


Time of Recovery

by Chi_The_Hero



Category: RWBY
Genre: (overly) Detailed Combat Scenes, Aftermath of Violence, Angst, But the intention is Canon Compliance, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Eye Trauma, F/F, Fights, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Giving Ruby the trauma she probably has, Injury Recovery, Minor Violence, Most those characters are only mentioned for now, POV Third Person Limited, POV Weiss Schnee, Platonic White Rose, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-Volume 5 (RWBY), Scars, Trust me it's not all angst I just want to get those warnings outta the way, White Rose - Freeform, Witcher references, for the most part. we won't know for sure until Volume 6, gal pals, minor depictions of violence, will add more tags as they come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-05 14:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chi_The_Hero/pseuds/Chi_The_Hero
Summary: Only days after the battle for Haven Academy, Weiss restlessly recovers from a mortal wound. Uncontent to simply sit around and reflect on the choices in her life that led her to such a close call, she decides to propose some light training with Ruby.This incidentally unearths the anxiety and pain suffered by her dear friend that she'd been blind to for far too long.





	1. Restless

**Author's Note:**

> Second story, can I get a yell heah!? This is a whole lot of set up for the upcoming chapters, so bear with it. I'm totally open for improvement, so any criticisms are welcome in the comments.

The old clock hanging on the wall above her ticked, it’s gears making each passing second known to her even when her gaze was fixed on the mostly blank sheet of white paper. The gold and silver point of the fountain pen rested against the left side of the paper, having left a sizeable dome of black ink that hadn’t dried. Safe to say, Weiss was very unfocused. After the chaotic events of the other night, and her mortal wound, that was natural, but she still silently scolded herself.

Even her glances at the words she’d written thus far frustrated her. The ex-heiress’s penmanship was normally neat and even; some would even say elegant. It normally stood in stark contrast to her partners frankly horrendous handwriting, but right then, the two styles looked like twins. She was constantly pressing the sharp tip against the paper, scratching the surface, broken apart by bouts of correction that left the pen hovering too far off the paper. Oversaturated with ink, it left several spots, and a few cursive letters turning into what looked like scribbles. She considered scrapping the paper and trying again with a more practical writing utensil. Frustration occasionally built up to the point where she almost crumpled the sheet, but sense quickly took over. She wasn’t writing a letter to anyone in particular, even if she was subconsciously framing it as though it was meant to go to her sister. Weiss didn’t keep a diary, but she felt compelled to get her thoughts on paper and organize her feelings.

Drifting her gaze upward, she stared at the drab wall of the single room, it’s walls painted a boring tawny. Boring wasn’t necessarily bad in this case though. Had the room been arranged and painted like her bedroom in Atlas, or especially the disorderly furnishing of her old dorm room in Beacon, she’d probably have a harder time focusing… No. It suddenly occurred to her that the dorm room she shared with Ruby, Yang and Blake, while somehow surpassing a teenaged slobs room with the crooked posters, and extremely precarious bedding arrangement, felt like a long lost home. This room was just foreign, and the one in Atlas held with it a plethora of negativity. She’d noted her first night there that the walls were quite thin, making rest difficult if there was activity in the living room. Tonight, their temporary home was silent, with some out training and others still resting after the encounter with Cinder’s group.

The ticking of the old mahogany based clock lulled her deep into thought, so much so she may as well have had her eyes closed. Dropping the pen into the inkwell, she intended to take a short break and calm her mind. Stress over the written monologue and their impending trip to Atlas drifted away. She instead thought of her team, reunited. It’d been months since they were divided by the fall of Beacon, and it seemed they’d all grown from that time.

Weiss herself had gained a lot from her escape from Atlas. Even when caged in Raven’s camp for several days, knowing her sister was no longer in Mistral, she didn’t give up hope. It was a massive step forward from the depression and resignation that held her down after the fall of her old school. And seeing her old friends after so long may have made her the happiest she’s ever been. Ruby… Didn’t seem too different. More responsible, and less carefree, but she was still childish. Weiss didn’t mind though; her old leader had the potential to brighten all of their spirits even in these difficult times.

Yang still retained her fun personality, but seemed to bear more weight on her shoulders than her previous carefree attitude. Weiss couldn’t blame her. Before Yang rescued her, the last meaningful conversation between the two was after Yang had supposedly broken Mercury’s leg, which earned her short lived infamy across all of Remnant. Between that time, she’d lost her arm and felt abandoned by Blake.

And now that she thought about it, Blake seemed different too. She was still stoic as ever, but had clearly put her foot down and stopped running from confrontations. She even found a new, loyal companion. They hadn’t gotten the full story of Blake’s time in Menagerie yet, but her saving the day with the other Faunus was inspiring. Really, they were all heroic that night.

That night… Despite all, it wasn’t a victory that prompted celebration. Cinder may be gone, potentially for good, but they all nearly died. Leo and Vernal were dead at the very least, and even though they were ‘enemies,’ Weiss took no relief from their passing. Leo was a coward being manipulated, and Vernal seemed… Rough around the edges, obviously antagonistic being in that tribe. But she didn’t deserve it. Cinder did it, didn’t she? Cinder Fall…

She hadn’t seen it coming. All the years of training to become a huntress; fighting grimm summoned by Winter, defeating the iron golem that invaded their manor, the white fang and the tournaments… None had prepared her for what Cinder had done. Weiss had her back turned, and only realized what had happened after she looked down and saw the massive javelin protruding from from her abdomen. It’d impaled her when she was weak, and felt like it was coated in magma for the short time that it was inside of her. The pain shot through her system, for a moment being the most intense agony she’s ever experienced, before it numbed along with her consciousness. The moments it took to fall to the ground were filled with terror, and regret; Weiss feeling that her life was just stolen. An action that seemed mainly motivated by sadism, considering what the others told her. There was no doubt about it. If Jaune hadn’t restored her aura, allowing the wound to mostly heal, she would… She’d have di—

The heiress shivered, and took control of her breathing that had begun to turn rapid and panicked. She knew she shouldn’t dwell on it, but she couldn’t help her mind from drifting there. After regaining her composure, she looked down at the sheet. The large drop of ink was now smeared across the only paragraph she managed to write. Rotating her hand, Weiss sighed, realizing she must’ve rested her hand in the black fluid while lost in thought, with a bit of her hand and sleeve stained black. It stood in stark contrast to her pale skin and light turquoise outfit.

“I’m so out of it…” She said, with an exasperated grunt and a defeated tone. Rubbing her eyes with the clean hand, she wondered if some coffee would help. She knew that staying awake wasn’t the best idea, as she’d only gotten sleep in short intervals since that night, but the girl doubted that passing out then would have been much different. Sliding the wooden chair back, she cringed at the sound of the wooden legs grinding against the floor.

*

As she assumed, no one was really present in the main hall. Though she could hear sounds coming from the different bedrooms and the occasional shot in the courtyard. Maybe it was pretentious, but she truly enjoyed black coffee. The smell of fresh beans creating the energizing drink, the steam rising from the mug, the light brown bubbles visible in what would otherwise be a completely black, reflective drink. In that reflection, she saw that bags had started to develop under her eyes. Blowing air through her nose, she leaned back in the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I’ll have wrinkles well before my time at this rate.” She smiled at her own commentary. Wrinkles were the least of her problems. Closing her eyes, she mused on how Ozpin never had terrible wrinkles, despite being quite old. Maybe he left some magic power for himself, to make his face age less. Or maybe reincarnation kept the ‘host’ bodies healthy. If so, could you consider Oscar lucky? Or maybe he was just using some good beauty products or wasn’t as old as she initially assum—

“Weiss! Are you okay?” 

Flinching and opening her eyes wide, she saw the face of the energetic leader of team RWBY. She was leaning over the couches back and staring straight, vertically down at Weiss, her brown and crimson-highlighted dangling over her. Those huge, pretty silver eyes peered down at her compassionately. She actually looked a bit concerned. Weiss any other time may have instinctively slapped someone who would wake her up so abruptly, but there was no way she could get mad at the girl. Plus, she hadn’t even noticed she’d fallen asleep. Lifting herself on the couch, she turned to respond to Ruby, but couldn’t answer before being interrupted. “Oh, I’m sorry! I just saw you laying on the couch, and I was wondering why you weren’t in bed and just napping on the couch, and your breathing seemed a little shallow, and you looked so peaceful which is a bit, uh, rare for you. Well, sometimes it is. Agh, you know what you mean.” 

“Jeez…” Weiss finally replied. Listening to Ruby made her feel out of breath. She reached for the mug that rested on the coffee table, but disappointingly found it was lukewarm. “I’m fine, Ruby. I just dozed off for a second.” Sipping the coffee, she felt annoyed. It was bitter, but a different flavor of bitter that she wasn’t fond of. Temperature made all the difference. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be sleeping? You burn so much energy between your semblance and hyperactivity. Rest is probably more important than shooting your sniper rifle alone out there.” It was an assumption she was willing to make, considering how many rooms were occupied. She could even hear the separate snoring of Nora and Sun, and Oscar talking to Ozpin, albeit only one side of the conversation.

“Well, I wasn’t tired, and I didn’t wanna just lay around doing nothing, so I figured I may as well get a little practice in,” Ruby said. Weiss felt that wasn’t a good excuse to stay up so late, but she didn’t look tired. Come to think of it, she slept like a rock the past couple days and probably had both energy to spare and aches to kill. Weiss, on the other hand, was feeling pretty enervated. “Besiiides, you’re one to talk. Have you been sleeping?” Of course she would counterattack like that. Weiss got the distinct impression that Ruby knew the answer to that question and was subtly urging her to sleep.

Sighing, she stood up and walked over to the sink, dumping the coffee into the drain and running the water to clean the appliance. Not only because it was lukewarm, but she knew Ruby was right and didn’t want to worry her by forcing herself to stay awake with caffeine. Even if she had to lay in bed for hours before falling asleep, it was a responsible decision.

“Fine,” She huffed. She was self aware that her aloof side was coming out again. Stepping towards the shorter girl, she crossed her arms and gave her a compassionate gaze. “But you should think of doing the same. You’ll burn yourself out practicing in the courtyard, and training by yourself will only reinforce your mistakes.” Ruby tilted her head a little.

“So… You haven’t been sleeping?” She asked. Weiss suddenly realized that Ruby’s previous question was, in fact, not rhetorical.

“Not much,” Weiss mumbled, her gaze drifting downward and her hand hovering over her abdomen. “A lot happened at the academy, and we have a lot ahead of us. Even if Winter is there, I’m still a bit apprehensive to return to Atlas. And besides, I need to train more if we’re going to be facing threats like the other night.” Admitting that was not the easiest thing for her to do. She knew she shouldn’t be ashamed of her fear, but rational thought didn’t prevail. She was scared. The malformed image of Salem that Emerald conjured was still fresh in her mind.

“Weiss?” That silvery voice called to her.

“Yes?”

“If, uh… If you’re scared, that’s, that’s alright.” Weiss just barely lifted her head to make eye contact with Ruby. Damn it. She thought she could read Ruby like a book, but it was looking like the other way around. To think, she considered this kid dense when they first met. “I am too… I’m sure the, the others are as well. Jaune, Yang, Blake, Oscar, and even uncle Qrow is probably afraid. But together, we can do this!” She exclaimed.

Platitudes. But Weiss knew there was genuine heart in those platitudes.

“People are sleeping, Ruby. Keep your voice down.” Weiss said, though her tone wasn’t scolding. “And why are you stammering? Lost your verbal skills while blasting your gun out there?”

“No…” She paused. Gloom seemed to hang overhead. A long silence permeated the room before she finally spoke again. “I’m just really, really relieved that you’re alright. I was… r-really worried back there.” Oh. Now it made sense. Weiss solemnly hung her head, unsure of what to say. Turned out, she didn’t need to say anything. Ruby bit her bottom lip, and quivered for several seconds before pouncing forward. Weiss was very unprepared for the sudden, forceful hug. 

As Ruby wrapped her arms under her shoulders, Weiss tipped back, the base of her spine pressing roughly into the wooden rim of the kitchen counter. Her right arm fell into the sink, the elbow hitting the faucet. Her heart beat frantically; the hug registering as an attack in her subconscious. With a gasp, Weiss’ arm moved automatically, pressing against the opposite girls chest and shoving her away. Ruby stumbled back, looking at her with wide eyes. Weiss quickly took in a couple breaths, followed by a powerful strike of guilt in her heart.

“I-I’m sorry, Ruby! I… You caught me off guard, and I… I panicked.” She couldn’t be mad at the shorter girl. A precedent for the acceptability of tackling hugs ‘gifted’ by Ruby had been set months back, in Beacon. Weiss accepted the girls immature affection, only finding it annoying at worst back then. Now though, it felt much less welcome.

“No! Don’t apologize! I’m sorry; I wasn’t thinking honestly.” Jeez, she looked like a puppy who just got yelled at. Weiss didn’t really want her to apologize, but at this rate they’d be going in circles, so she simply nodded, then strolled over to Ruby and patted her on the shoulder. She wondered if the girl had gotten taller, or if she was just imagining it. Thoughts trailed off, and in moments her prior panic had dissolved into a serene calm. “Are you… Okay? I’ve never seen you like that before,” Ruby said. Her tone gave away that she knew why though.

“Yeah,” Weiss said, breathing deeply through her nose. With a sincere smile, she retreated back and cupped her chin. “I’m going to go to bed, Ruby. You should too. I know you’re antsy, but you should know when to hang up your sword and take a rest,” She lectured, staring at Ruby’s waist. Crescent Rose weighed her belt down considerably. “Or in this case, your scythe. We both need training, so maybe tomorrow we can go a fe—”

“Yes! It’s been so long, just thinking about it gets me fired up!” Ruby exclaimed, her voice echoing in the hall. Interrupting, a lack of volume control, typical Ruby Rose. Traits that she began to cherish when compared to most of her family.

“It’s a deal. I’ll see you in the morning, Ruby, provided you’ve gotten some rest.” That was a big if. No good would come of that impulsive leader keeling over due to exhaustion.

*

“I’m sorry. I’ll get better.”

“You’ll have to if you ever want to leave.”

To become a huntress. Slay the grimm that haunt this world like a vulture over a dying animal. Prove to Father what you can do. Make Winter proud.

“Next up is Team RWBY, led by,” How could that be? Team RWBY? “Ruby Rose!”

How could an insolent child lead a team of huntresses? She doesn’t even belong at this academy, right? She’s only fifteen or sixteen, and doesn’t even seem to take what they’re doing seriously. Maybe she could be a strong fighter, but a leader? What kind of asinine decision is this?

“I see before me a young girl who spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted.”

That’s not true. Dad… Jacques rewarded her when she fell in line. He’d love her and shower her with whatever gifts or gratitude she wanted as long as she lived up to his expectations. As long as she was Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, not Weiss Schnee, the huntress in training, or the girl who wanted to experience the world, or, or…

“I counted three strikes missed.”

Yes, but they still won. Those mistakes didn’t really cost them much, did they?

“And that is why you are no longer the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.”

He can’t really do that, can he? Just rip that away from her over wanting to leave? She’d never imagined he would go so far. Not once in her life. But in a way, those words freed her of any shard of apprehension she had left.

“Looks like we just hit the jackpot!”

She may look weak, but she is more than you could possibly imagine. No scumbag bandits were going to send her back to that cage that she once called home. 

No. No one would. She was stronger than that! She wasn’t an heiress, she was a huntress! And with her team, she could accomplish anything!

“Weiss!" 

Anything.

“This is bad…”

Anything could happen when she was on this path.

“Don’t stop!”

She could even die at any moment.

*

Slowly, she opened her left eye, the one that wasn’t dug into the pillow of her temporary bed. She didn’t jolt awake as if what she just experienced was a horrible nightmare, but instead slowly lifted herself and took a deep breath, only slightly relieved to have regained consciousness. It wasn’t a nightmare, just a grotesque amalgamation of memories that led up to her current point in life. No happiness. No ‘thank the gods, it was just a dream,’ moment. Just dread that refused to go away. Finally lifting her body enough to rest her back against the bedrest, she noted a rather uncomfortable sticky feeling that clung to her body. In particular, her forehead and loose bangs. Cold sweat. Her sheets were slightly damp, as if she’d been sleeping with a fever. 

“Damn it,” She swore under her breath, shifting her weight and moving her legs off the bed. She felt disgusting. The first thing she needed to do was take a shower, no doubt about it. As she finally escaped the bed and stood on her own two feet, another uncomfortable feeling made itself known to her. A sharp pain in her abdomen. This was becoming common, the doctor said it was nothing to be concerned with though, either a phantom pain from earlier, or her aura wasn’t able to heal her all the way.

Glancing up at the old clock, she was shocked to find it was nearly the afternoon. Catch-up sleep was a myth, yet she still felt a little rejuvenated from the long rest, despite all the odds stacked against her. 

A cool shower later, she felt truly refreshed. She collected her hair into its usual side ponytail, and applied the minimum amount of foundation to hide the dark circles under her eyes that had yet to disappear naturally. Staring at herself in the mirror, she mused on certain thoughts. Vernal had her hair cut pretty short; maybe it was just that girls style, but there was some strategic advantages in having short hair, were there not? Then she realized how pissed it’d make Jacques to see her hair like that, which elicited a giggle from the ex-heiress.

“Maybe someday.” She muttered to herself before exiting the bathroom. Cutting hair was easy, but she’d rather get someone with a skilled hand to do it so it’d still look nice. Jaune and Ren would probably both have some talent with hair styling. Yang on the other hand may shiver at the thought.

As she stepped out into the main hall, Weiss noticed a couple particular oddities that gave her pause. One, it was awfully quiet for being nearly high noon. And two, though calling it an oddity was perhaps giving the girl too much credit, she noticed Ruby passed out on the couch, as if she’d just slumped over on it mere minutes ago. Shaking her head, she guessed this would happen. Ruby didn’t heed her advice and was sleeping off fatigue. Scanning the room, she noticed a couple more things of note; Crescent Rose occupying the chair next to the sofa, sat upright, and on the fridge was a sheet of paper.

“Ah,” She breathed, walking over to the steel refrigerator and reading the note. It was pretty easy to spot considering the kitchen was rather small, only wrapping inwardly around one corner, with the oven and stove on one wall, and sink, dishwasher and fridge on the other. The only really notable part of the galley was the island in the center of the stained wood floor, that could serve as both a place to prepare a meal and as a sort of casual dining table. Blake’s handwriting, which she was familiar with after sharing so many notes with the Faunus.

‘I (Blake) have gone out to the market with Yang, Jaune, Ren, Nora and Oscar. Don’t know when we’ll be back. May return in seperate groups because I’m sure we’ll get split up out there. We’ll keep our guards up, in case there are any remnant forces.

-Blake’ The letter concluded.

A bit redundant, but she assumed it was in place for Qrow rather than her. Odds of him being drunk were practically a coin flip, so redundancy was actually a bit useful in this case. Still, she wondered why a few other names weren’t mentioned on the note. Weiss slowly turned on her heel, before jumping back into the fridge like a startled cat when she saw a smirking man with an open shirt towering over her. His smirk quickly disappeared.

“Uh, sorry. Did I scare you? Ugh, stupid question,” Sun said, looking deflated. Well, that accounted for one of the missing names. She noticed his eyes darting from her right to left, and realized he was also reading the note. Stepping aside, she watched as his neutral face turned into one of pure disappointment. “Ah, jeez. If they were going out, they could have woken me.”

“Well, Blake’s not your mom,” She snidely remarked. With the way Sun snores at night, she couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to wake him. He had the courtesy to sleep in the room at the end of the hall, at least. “Where’s that other girl? Ilia?”

“Dunno, I haven’t seen her around. Maybe she decided to explore the city,” He scratched his head, his curiosity obviously piqued by her question. “She probably has her scroll on her, so I wouldn’t worry.” In truth, Weiss was almost relieved that Ilia was likely away. The chameleon faunus seemed like a nice person, but was certainly wary around her. Not like she could blame her, with the Schnee Dust Company rightfully being a large target for the White Fang. It’d certainly take some time to get acquainted with Ilia if she’d be sticking around.

“And Qrow?” She asked.

“Probably in crow mode.” He answered, half jokingly. But hell, that could be the truth. The fact that Qrow or even Raven could be watching them at any time made her feel a bit paranoid. Especially with Raven.

“Well, I’m going to go out into the courtyard. While Ruby is… Indisposed, I may as well practice my glyphs and summons,” She said, mostly to herself. Myrtenaster was already holstered on her belt, though she was hoping she wouldn’t be heading out alone. Before she could turn and walk away, Sun caught her attention.

“Wait, do you want some breakfast? I can make some great waffles!”

“It’s lunchtime.” 

“Yeah, and we both just woke up, so it’s breakfast time for us. For Ruby too, if you don’t mind waking her up!” That wasn’t how it worked. That wasn’t how it worked at all. Time didn’t bend to when they slept and woke. Plus how did he even know she just woke up? Did her morning routine wake him? Was Sun actually a much lighter sleeper than any of them knew? Oh forget it. Weiss closed her eyes and conceded. Some breakfast would be nice. Though the idea that Sun could cook was dubious at best. Nodding, she turned and walked towards the sofa. Ruby lightly snored, much softer and cuter than Sun’s.

Weiss reached out a hand and pushed against the girls shoulder, neither gently nor roughly. It didn’t really seem to stir the younger girl at all. Instead, she just mumbled in her sleep as if Weiss directly affected her dreams. “Mney… Mah…” Rolling her eyes, Weiss grabbed the girl’s shoulder and pulled her off her side and onto her back, looking down at her peaceful sleeping face. Gods, she felt guilty waking her in a way. “M… Mom… You d’dunt nneh…”

“Mom?” Weiss hesitated, pulling her hand back. Ruby only mentioned her mom a couple times. Before the tournament, she visited her grave if Weiss remembered correctly. She assumed that Ruby’s mother passed when she was too young to have created many memories with her, so she was surprised to hear that word in particular. Shaking away her apprehension, Weiss grew more determined to wake her teammate, grabbing her left shoulder and consistently rocked her thin frame back and forth, Ruby’s mutter growing more coherent as she began to stir. “Ruby, Sun’s making us breakfast. Get up, we have work to do today!” Her volume and pitch gradually rose as she shook the girl. “Don’t make me get the pepper! Or the ice! Don’t think I won’t!" 

Finally, she was gifted by those tired silver eyes forcing themselves open, the pupils quickly shrinking rapidly as they were greeted by sunlight. “Nyeh.. Fiiive m’more minutes Weiss… No.. No ice p’please.” Weiss smirked, knowing just how to get to her.

“I already gave you five minutes. In fact, I gave you fifteen! Now up! The sooner you get up, the sooner you’ll be able to wake up!” She crossed her arms and towered over the red-clad girl. She heard Sun giggling in the kitchen, he clearly never knew about this type of ritual that she shared with Ruby. She shot an icy stare at him, which prompted him to continue working on their breakfast. It’d be annoying if Ruby caught onto the trick before her senses returned to her.

She raised her head, her normally beautifully cropped hair now disheveled, with several new cowlicks on the right side. One dramatic yawn later, and she hoisted herself off the sofa, her stance wobbly and precarious. “You never let me sleep in…” She grumbled.

“I haven’t woken you in seven months. You have no right to complain.” Uncrossing her arms, she glanced over at Sun again. Bacon sizzled in one pan, and batter was being molded into a smooth disk in another. “I thought you said you were making waffles! Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Uh, this place doesn’t have a waffle maker, so we’ll have to make do with pancakes, sorry!” He didn’t even meet her gaze, but was instead enraptured by his task. “I mean, it’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it? A few pancakes basically equals one waffle!”

“That math is dubious at best,” She remarked, starting to feel like a babysitter between these two. Her tone lowered and she dropped her false, scolding mother persona. “It does smell good, though. At least better than most things I’ve eaten since leaving Atlas.” Though nothing could compare to their reunion dinner, she didn’t want to mention that. Sun was clearly trying his hardest and comparing what he was working on to a meal that he wasn’t even present for was quite unfair. Turning back to Ruby, she took a moment to examine her. “You should take a shower, or at least brush your hair. How long were you asleep? Did you actually listen to me, because it looked like you had just laid down when I walked in here.” 

“Yesss, I did. I was getting tired anyway, so I thought of taking a little nap was all.” Her index fingers pressed together, making her look more timid than usual. 

“And what time did you take this nap.” 

“Uhm… Midnight? Maybe around one?”

“O-Oh!” She pulled her scroll out and checked the time. Yep, it was actually past noon. She hadn’t read the old fashioned clock wrong, nor had the clock itself been wrong. “You realize that sleeping too much can make you tired, right? Oh forget it, nevermind. I’m just glad you got your rest.” Though judging by her half dead face, clearly she was still exhausted. “Go make yourself look at least a little presentable, alright? It’ll distract me if I’m training with a drowsy looking teen.” 

Ruby’s features brightened, showing enthusiasm at the idea of training with Weiss. She suddenly seemed fully awake, and without so much of an affirmation, rushed to room with remarkable speed. Not enough to leave rose petals, thankfully. She’d hate to have to sweep after the buffoon as well. 

Next on the agenda was coffee. Maybe Ruby was up and at them, but Weiss still needed some energy to prepare for the day. She drank hers black, and knew Ruby would drink some as long as half the drink was creamer and sugar. She had a truly abominable sweet tooth. Still, coffee was easier to make than tea, even if the amount of flavorings made her shed a tear for the art of the roast. 

“So~” Sun spoke up, just as the aromatic black fluid started to fill the pot. “You must have a lot of little siblings back home if that’s how you act with your teammate.” Weiss huffed in response, making it obvious that this was not a topic that made cheery or nostalgic. “Agh, sorry! Sore subject?” 

“So you’ve noticed?” She removed the pot and poured it into one mug most of the way, once again losing herself in the reflection. “Well, maybe not sore, but not right. I only have one little brother, Whiteley. Never been particularly close to him, though. I wasn’t exactly a big sister icon to him at any point, and I certainly won’t be now. He’s… Conniving, to say the least. Devious. And the current heir to the Schnee Dust Company.” On one hand, her little brother nearly seemed like a sociopath the last couple times they spoke. But on the other, she couldn’t deny that he was probably just staying on their fathers good side. In the end, he may have just been another victim of their travesty of a family. 

She filled Ruby’s mug only about halfway, making sure there was plenty of room for whatever else would be added to it. Knocking on the ceramic counter to grab at Sun’s attention, she raised the pitcher. “Want some?”

“Ah, no thanks. Way to bitter for me. I mostly stick to soft drinks and juice.” Well, just as she expected. The drink would stay warm for a while in case she needed more, or if any others returned and had a taste for coffee. Blake and Yang wouldn’t have any. Neither would Jaune, probably. Or Nora. Or Oscar, unless Ozpin was persistent. Maybe Ren would want some? Or llia? “That sucks about your brother, though. I figured things were a mess over there, considering… Well…”

 

“Considering I ran away?” She smiled without negativity. Things were better this way anyway, she felt no regret over leaving. Not an ounce. “I love my sister, though unfortunately, we keep missing each other. She was supposed to be here, in Mistral, but apparently she’s already back in Atlas. Almost like she’s avoiding me.”

“Well, you’re… You.” She smiled, but that expression quickly dissolved into pure, unadulterated fear as Weiss’ pale blue eyes pierced right through his soul. “Kidding! Really, you’re super fun and uh, very nice, really!” She gave a look like she could kill, but in truth the comment didn’t bother her. She was a bit unpleasant at times. And besides, she knew he did mean it as a light joke, albeit completely lacking in tact. 

“Your dang right she is!” A third, silvery voice graced the kitchen. Craning her neck, she saw Ruby had actually taken care of the eldritch beast atop her head, though she was still wearing the same clothes that she had on last night. Thank the gods she didn’t have any discernible body odor, or this would be one difficult breakfast to get through. “Oh, and you forgot strong, and brave, and caring, and pretty, and responsible, an—”

“And,” She interjected, her face glowing pink. “I’m sure even you can acknowledge that I wasn’t exactly swimming in those positive traits during our first semester together! I was much more… Prudish.” Yeah, that’s a word for it. Someone with less of a filter may even relate her to a term more officially suited for a female dog. “I appreciate the back-up, but you’re certainly embellishing my character.” Averting Ruby’s gaze, Weiss opened the refrigerator and pulled out a gallon of milk and a small bottle of vanilla creamer. It held the name, ‘Atlas, Pure Vanilla.’ Well it had certainly not come from Atlas considering the embargo. Did that count as false advertising?

“Can’t you take a compliment, Weiss? Besides, how can I embellish how I feel?” She beamed, further causing the girls face to heat up. Ruby lacked a filter in a completely wholesome way, she mused. Taking the ceramic lid off a tiny tray near the back of the counter, she was about to grab a handful of sugar cubes from the pile, but hesitated, her hand returning to her side.

“Subconsciously,” She muttered in response to Ruby. Looking back at her, she grabbed the mug half filled with black coffee, smiling softly. “I’m curious, have you ever actually tried coffee without all the flavorings?”

“Agh… No, I heard it tastes bad.”

“Not bad, necessarily. Though it is an acquired taste, I can’t deny you that. Go ahead though, you may actually like it.”

Timidly, Ruby wrapped her fingers around the hot mug, taking it from Weiss and staring down into it. She sniffed and made a face at the drink, as if it were medicine. “Uhm… I dunno, I don’t really like bitter things.”

“Just a sip, Ruby! Come on, compared to hordes of grimm, homicidal maniacs, and your uncles B.O, this shouldn’t even be a challenge for you, hero!”

“Hrmm,” She pouted, staring foam daggers into Weiss. “Don’t bad mouth my uncle, Ice Queen.” A few more moments passed before she started to lift the white mug up to her lips. Yes, finally! Maybe this girl would finally take a step into a obtaining more distinguished tastes! One could only pray for such a miracle. Weiss watched her like a hawk as she tilted the mug, ever so slightly, taking what felt like minutes to let the hot drink reach her tongue. And then, at last, her face contorted into a look of pure disgust. She placed the mug on the island and zoomed to the sink, spitting into it like she’d consumed poison. “That was awful! How can you drink something like that!”

“You’re hopeless,” Weiss chuckled grabbing the mug from the island and bringing it to where she laid out the items that would make Ruby tolerate it. The drink remained bitter after all the flavoring anyway. Less so, but Ruby only really drank it with so much in it because of a placebo, basically. “It was worth a try though, right?” She spoke as she poured milk and creamer into the coffee, finalizing the concoction with six sugar cubes, stirring the context until the drink was tortilla. 

“I think I’d rather get punched by another beringel than drink black coffee.” Weiss handed her the mug again and she drank it much less hesitantly. Jeez, she made such a big deal over it, but Weiss wouldn’t even consider that a sip. It probably barely dipped against her tongue with how she reacted. Someday, Ruby Rose. Someday she’ll get you to drink something worth the trouble of a quality roast. 

“Speaking of monkey business,” Sun hollered, after a long time spent in focused silence. “Our breakfast is finally complete! Well, the pancakes and bacon are done at least. Add butter, syrup and bananas at your pleasure~!”

* 

Banana pecan waffles were a guilty pleasure of hers when she started eating out with Team RWBY, and though the meal served by the faunus wasn’t much compared some of the professional breakfast services at Beacon, it still gave her a significant boost and held a nostalgic flavor that she couldn’t imagine herself tiring of. Ruby typically devoured the food as if it were the only food she’d seen in months. And the coffee didn’t last long after it cooled either. Sometimes she worried about how hyperactive Ruby would become when on caffeine, but the girl seemed to peak at a certain amount of energy thankfully. That set Ruby apart from, say, Nora. Weiss would shudder at the thought of giving that girl a can of soda, let alone coffee. 

They trekked out into the courtyard, just the two of them and their signature weapons. Sun offered to join them, but Weiss gently turned him down. This was, after all, not meant to be just a regular training session that they could do at any time with anyone of their choosing. No, this session held more meaning than that; a personal drive and a wish to reclaim lost time. Even if neither of them verbally acknowledged it, they both desired to strengthen each other for when, not if, they’d face another fatal battle. They were teammates and felt strongest when they were near each other. With nothing else to do, Sun left to explore the city, he claimed. 

The noon sunlight felt nice on her skin, and the passing breeze accompanied by the serene rustling of leaves put her at ease from the awkwardness of the morning and anxiety of impending battle. It really only began to occur to her then how stuffy and gloomy her room had been all that time. Breathing in, she raised her arms and curved her back, stretching the muscles that had gone so unused for the time she was resting. Aches from too much time spent in bed would disappear with a little physical activity. Mid-stretch, she felt a slight pang of sharp pain in her abdomen again. Palming the area, she heard Ruby’s concerned voice behind her. 

“You sure you’re ready to do some combat training? I don’t want you to get hurt if we start really going at it.” Her head hung and her bangs fell just slightly over her eyes. It seemed as though she was hopeful for Weiss to answer ‘no,’ but also fishing for a final confirmation that this was okay. 

“I’m sure, Ruby,” Weiss said reassuringly. “My aura healed just about all the damage caused by that spear, I’m positive. I’m probably just feeling some echo pains, or maybe some muscles got a little damaged and still need to heal on their own. Either way, training today would certainly do more good than bad.” Afterall, damaged muscles don’t heal from being neglected. Sure, if one were to break their leg, running a marathon the next day would be a terrible idea, but slowly working in activity after they gain the ability to walk again is what will provide the best healing process. Or at least, she was pretty sure that was how it worked. Oh hell, even if she couldn’t fight directly, there was something she wanted to try with Ruby that didn’t require much physical strain on her part, but that could wait. “Anyway, I figure we could open up with some light sparring, and get a feel for how we’ve both improved over these past few months. I hope that’s acceptable.” 

With a giggle, Ruby saluted her companion- no, her combatant, and nodded heartily as she removed her folded sniper rifle from it’s holster on her back. “You’re calling the shots, General Weiss!” G-General Weiss? The girl was taken aback, but after a moment, she sighed and nodded. Huh. General Weiss. Maybe after this was all over, she could be a General of the Atlesian military. Of course, that’d hold prerequisites of going through strict training, performing operations, showing leadership skills, and absolutely decimating her father's reputation so his vitriol wouldn’t corrupt everything the higher ups would ever know about her. Ironwood’s offer echoed in her mind.

That was all a big what-if though. Her opinions over Atlas have somewhat soured lately. 

Taking her rapier out of its open sheath with her right hand, she noticed Ruby approaching and marvelling at the weapon. “You act like you’ve never seen Myrtenaster before. Don’t start salivating over it.” Perhaps the girl just hadn’t gotten a good look at it since they met up again. It was no different from before, entirely unmodified and unscathed. It still shined a pale silver from hilt to tip, the handle decorated with a spiral engraving and adorned with a hammer and trigger. A dust chamber connecting the blade with the hilt, surrounded by four hooked guards that both served to balance the weight and to guard the hand. Though if she was being honest, their defensive capabilities weren’t in her mind when designing the weapon; they were more for decoration than anything else. A keen eye like Ruby’s probably noticed from minute one that the blade was unlike the typical rapier. Instead of a straight rod ending in a point, allowing for only lethal thrust attacks with negligible blunt attack capabilities, it was instead bladed on four corners extending from the guards, allowing for minor slashing abilities. It wasn’t the weapons greatest asset, but it had advantages. 

“I dunno,” She said, looking and sounded flustered, as if she was talking about a crush. “I just never get tired of looking at it. Of course I prefer Crescent, but Myrtenaster is just so creative and pretty and fitting! Plus, it’s… Clever, I admit. Crescent, Gambol Shroud, and Ember Celica are all great, but they’re all melee and gun combos. Like that’s great! But, it’s good to see variation. Crocea Mors balanced it out with Team RNJR… Simple and effective, but it is limited. Yeah, I’m just glad to see your sword again.” Weiss was speechless. She knew that Ruby was a weapon freak, but she’d forgotten just how enthusiastic the cutesy girl could get about these killing tools. So much so, she just began to realize that her scythe was just Crescent with Rose being its family name. 

“You,” She finally spoke, “Have a very strange relationship with weapons, you know that?” She cleared her throat, looking at the scratched up garnet red sniper. Its lense was cracked, she noted. “So, I’ve never asked this before, but is that thing like, your child or your spouse in your mind?” Perhaps it was better not to know, especially, with how Ruby hugged ‘her’ like a teddy bear. I really big, steel, and extremely dangerous to both enemy and careless user teddy bear.

“Well, I did build her! She needs some work though, poor thing hasn’t had an easy few months. Still, she’s built to last like nobody’s business! Probably one of the most durable weapons in our party.” Hm. If she was a betting girl, she’d put a lot of money on her sword being quite a bit more durable.

“Still, you built… Built her. Of course, you built her well, but my sword has a bit of advantage with being made by a skilled craftsman.” She noticed Ruby was starting to eye her like a diehard fan of a band growing suspicious of their friend being a ‘fake’ fan. “Don’t get me wrong, I designed it! Every detail. But with its dust capabilities, and just the strain of a huntresses weapon in general, it needed to be built a very particular way. Where most weapons have to make a compromise with a strong base and soft edges, or a soft base and hard edges, the metal on this sword is built with strengths in both areas. The special metal allows it to be stronger than most, while also remaining light enough to serve my prowess. It also had to accommodate the direct effects of dust, so that’s another layer of protection.” She took a breath, realizing she went on a tangent as well. Blushing, she looked down at the weapon. “Just… FYI. They both have their strengths.” 

Unlocking the subtle clasp that held one of the guards to the handle, she tilted the blade back, as though it were the barrel of an old revolver. That was, after all, the design principal of the swords dust chamber. She did think having the canister slide out on a clasp like modern weaponry of that kind would have been more convenient, but that came with a couple issues. One, the sword guard would be in the way, and two, in the case that she would have to reload the dust in the heat of battle, it was probably safer for the blade to curve out so that she wouldn’t wound herself with it during a sprint. “Well, having a good weapon is important, but you also need to know how to use it, ya know? Uncle Qrow taught me everything I know about scythe wielding, against my father's better wishes. Eheh, I think he thought it was too dangerous for me to use.” She rubbed her head, waiting patiently as Weiss inserted a different dust capsule into every vacant slot.

“Your dad shared a team with him, though. Shouldn’t he have seen then that it was safe to use?” She clicked the blade back into place and switched her grip, grabbing the hilt casually with her dominant left hand. Ruby was also left handed, coincidentally enough. But, considering how bulky her weapon was, that was almost a non factor in combat, likely only affecting how she aimed and the direction of some of her attacks. 

“Well, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty tiny compared to my uncle. And dad always said I was the spitting image of mom, who was also pretty small. He didn’t think I could handle a weapon like that. Though, to be fair, Crescent is lighter than Harbinger, and doesn’t have a miniature shotgun built in.” Just barely more manageable, she imagined. How was Ruby not shredded? “My semblance helps use it though, so that’s good!” 

“So,” She breathed, trying to pick her words carefully. “Your mother never used a scythe like yours? I haven’t heard a whole lot, but I have heard she was similar to you in more than just appearance. Silver eyes, for one, but her personality sounded like a more mature version of you judging by Yangs explanation.” Ruby visibly deflated just a tiny bit, a hint of bittersweet love in her eyes. Damn! Weiss should have just bit her tongue.

“Well, I was… I was too young to remember much of her, y-you know? She was around a lot, but she did still go on missions. And of course, there was no take your daughter to work day when you were a huntress,” She chuckled, brightening up the mood for the both of them briefly before Ruby continued. “So, I’ve never seen her fight and don’t really know how much I share in common with her in that way. I think she used some sort of chain whip weapon, but I was so young and… Don’t really ask dad about her too much. It makes him sad, even if he’s happy with the memories at the same time. Whenever I do ask about her, there’s more important things to talk about than combat. And besides,” Ruby trailed off, visibly pained by many things. Her sullen face was something Weiss had never really seen in such a serious context before, and it hurt heart. She could guess what Ruby was about to say before stopping. Summer died in combat, which added to her time as a huntress being a sore subject. 

Gripping her sword tightly, she wanted to tell Ruby that it was okay. Her father probably was saddened when thinking about his late wife, but mourning was a process and he had years. She doubted he was still devastated by the tragedy, and could talk about Summer for hours if Ruby just asked. It was her own mother after all, and she seemed to only hold a minimal amount of knowledge for her. Was that right? Was it right that she resisted pressing her father for extra details just to spare his feelings, even if he’s never voiced against such a thing? Truthfully, she felt she didn’t have any right to say one way or another. Both their families were disastrous, but for entirely different reasons. 

Instead of letting the silence persist, Weiss pressed the point of her rapier onto the cobbled ground of the courtyard, taking a deep breath and staring Ruby down. “Well, we have a lot to do, and it’d be preferable we get working before the others get back and want to join in.” Sure, one could say she was dodging a difficult conversation, but for the moment she felt this was best for both her and Ruby. 

“Okay. Yeah, yeah, okay!” She exclaimed, her previous spirit returning to her like a battery filling in a matter of seconds. She held her weapon in both hands and extended it into its main attack mode so fast that Weiss was slightly startled. She didn’t show it though, didn’t budge from her spot or lift her sword. She’d be taking the lead here, and it’d be rather uncool if such a mundane action spooked her.

“Alright, here’s the plan. We’ll open up with some free-sparring. It goes without saying that considering this isn’t a ranked match or anything of the sort, we can stop or pause at anytime!” Stepping back, she built a fair start distance between the two. She’d need it if Ruby was going to open the way she guessed she would. Oh yes, that’d be a good way to test her skill level. The fencer continued to step back while explaining their plan. “After that, we can take a break and then start working on cooperating again. Maybe develop some new team attacks. I’ve been wondering how we could incorporate my summoning ability into our moveset.” And then, well… Weiss smirked. After that it’d be a surprise. 

“Right! Let’s do this!” She brightly grinned and took a stance, turning her scythe and resting the blade on the ground behind her. Just as Weiss was guessing. “Whenever you’re ready, Weiss!” Ruby was positively glowing with enthusiasm, her elation incredibly contagious as usual. Weiss finally stopped, mentally measuring the distance between the two. Thirty feet, she’d say. Was that enough? Did that give her enough time? Swallowing, Weiss lifted her weapon, tilting her wrist so the point was as high as her collarbone. Somewhere in Remnant, Winter must have felt a shiver down her spine though, because Weiss took a stance left all her lessons unheeded. She’d slid her left foot forward instead of the right, which she slightly slid back and lifted the heel about two inches off the ground. If preparing for an attack, this awkward stance would probably cause her to fall over, it’s inelegance would be noticed by even Oscar. This would pay off, she thought. She knew it’d pay off. “All out?” Ruby inquired. 

“All out.” Weiss nodded. They were going to fight. Not trade a few attacks, not practice moves on each other, not test each others endurance. This was true combat between consenting comrades. As soon as she gave that reply, Ruby tilted her scythes grip upward, so the tip of the blade pointed outward instead of touching the ground. It was predictable, her signature opening attack was clearly telegraphed, and easy to recognize in the anticipation filled moments between preparation and attack. Ruby would launch herself for a quick and damaging attack, which is why she curved her scythe just then: the blade wouldn’t get caught in the stone and limit her attack. At that angle, the gun barrel faced the ground at about a seventy degree angle. Focusing her vision, Weiss finally uttered, quietly enough that had there even been as little a gust of wind when she spoke, the word would be inaudible. “Go.” 

The instant after the syllable slipped past her lips, a sniper rifle round echoed throughout the courtyard. Ruby launched herself off the ground with a dash, propelling herself with the recoil of an explosive round, rose petals flowing from her cloak as her semblance played a part in her speed. As she flew through the air, the scythe blade shifted so the tip was vertically parallel with the pole-grip. Weiss wouldn’t have time to think naturally, Ruby’s speed could challenge the dive of a bird of prey at its peak. That gave Weiss an advantage, however. She wouldn’t have time to properly respond to an attack like that, but on the flip side, Ruby wouldn’t be able to alter her attack in time when she was already in the air. 

Weiss had the advantage because she didn’t need to think. She already had a strategy in place before she allowed the fight to start. Predicting Ruby would launch herself with her war scythe, Weiss had herself focused and prepared to manifest a glyph behind her. It helped that she had the say when to start. It all happened in an instant: Weiss said “Go,” just as she formed the white glyph at an angle where her raised heel pressed against it. The symbol formed just as the gunshot rang out, and Weiss’s reflexes took over as she jumped off the pad and to her left. See, her stance was awkward and she was honestly surprised it didn’t give her opponent pause, nevertheless, it served its purpose in preparing her for the most dangerous part of this attack. 

Typically, if Ruby flew towards an enemy with her blade upright, then she was going to rapidly burst fire the sniper. With that extra momentum, she’d land with a whirling attack so fast that an untrained eye would only see a red blur. Dodging backwards was useless unless you also had sonic speeds on your side, as even while spinning in the air, Ruby’s speed gave her a very large reach. Doding horizontally was also risky, but with a little luck one could escape unscathed. Weiss didn’t trust luck, though. Instead, she moved diagonally towards and to the left of the attack. She met Ruby halfway, and the girl must’ve only been a flinch from pulling the trigger because her attack started. With Weiss’s trajectory, she was able to get past the blades reach before it landed. See, even though Ruby’s left handedness didn’t change too much about battle, the direction of her attacks were directly determined by it, so by drifting past her opponents right, the blade had neither the time to make the semi rotation to reach her nor the extra distance it needed to potentially hit her. 

Passing Ruby, her boots scratched against the stone floor as she recovered and twirled around to face whatever threats may come next. She wouldn’t have the time to meticulously strategize every action like before, so it was time for her to get ready for anything, and charge an offensive. After all, the best offense was at times a good defense. At other times, it resulted in mortal wounds, but that was only if the stakes were extremely high and the attacker was careless. The only stakes here were minor wounds and loss of pride, and Weiss was certainly not careless. Catching her breath, she pointed Myrtenaster forward, only slightly marvelling at the sight of the rose petals that slowly floated down while Ruby recovered her stance.

Weiss didn’t wait. She formed six smaller glyphs, each no bigger than a dinner plate, that launched an unforgiving onslaught of hail. With the combined efficiency of all six, the ice flew towards Ruby like bullets from Coco’s gun. For a few seconds, Ruby actually seemed stunned with this attack, which nearly drove dismay into her heart. There was no way her leader would get defeated by what basically amounted to stalling, right? Ice flaked off in the wind, obscuring Ruby even further in the storm. So much so, Weiss barely noticed her transforming her weapon back into a rifle. Barely. She flinched, and was ready to back away, a plan quickly destroyed as a bullet landed on her shoulder.

“Agh!” She stumbled back. Aura protected against taking direct damage for the most part, but it still hurt like hell. Especially because, as she realized the moment it hit, Ruby was not using normal rounds. The shot exploded in a focused flame, blasting her with head and turning the spot black with a minor burn. Dust! Oh now it was serious. Despite having surplus dust supply, the embargo had made her anxious to use any, but as the saying goes, fight fire with fire, fight ice with ice, and fight dust with dust. Ruby’s figure became more clear, and she could see the girl was gleefully smiling having grasped an upper hand. “There she goes again, getting over-confident.” Time to put her in her place. Spinning the chamber, Weiss deflected a couple more flaming bullets as she attempted to push forward, her right hand reaching into her pouch to grab a red vial of dust. It was no bigger than a bullet, but highly concentrated and volatile.

Like a dance, she moved forward while shifting her sword to deflect the flaming bullets, each exploding with some flair as the edges cut them mid air. The others either missed or hit her, neither result impeding her progress. When she judged she was close enough, Weiss cocked the hammer with her thumb and darted forward. A bullet passed just between a couple locks of hair as she ducked and pressed the trigger on the handle, slashing the tip and a wide arch on the ground, creating a thin sheet of ice between her and Ruby. The firing stopped, but that didn’t stop Weiss from exacting her plan. Using a glyph as a jump pad, she launched herself into the air and threw the red capsule onto the ice, causing it to explode into a magnificent fireball. Sublimation took place, the ice immediately turning into a steam that obscured both their views.

Foolishly, she assumed this was a safe moment to catch her breath and ponder her next action. This impression was quickly shattered as a red blur passed overhead, followed by raining rose petals. Quickly turning on heel, she barely got the chance to see Ruby’s face before the scythe sent her flying right through the cloud she created. Smashing against the railing of the courtyard, she felt the breath forcefully leave her lungs. Struggling to her feet, she saw Ruby land in front of her, ready to attack, but waiting. Perhaps out of fairness, more likely holding back because Weiss looked genuinely hurt. 

“You’re relentless,” She huffed, using Myrtenaster to prop herself up. “And you’re fighting with a bit more strategy than I remember. Sure you,” She coughed. “You, you always were a good leader but normally attacked like a blood drunk huntress. Good to see you’re thinking…” 

“Do you give up? I can still go for a while!” She exclaimed without hint of condescending. Her scythe rested against the cobblestone, but could be lifted and strike at her in a matter of a second, no, half a second if she wasn’t careful. She already underestimated Ruby critically, which was why she was only just able to stand and breathe properly. Narrowing her eyes, she focused her mind on one thing.

“Not a chance.” She raised her blade, and Ruby smiled with glee, and took a stance. Weiss thought to herself… Breathe, Weiss. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. In, out, in, out. Do not detest the enemies you’ve vanquished, but cherish how they’ve helped you grow. And call to them. Behind and to Ruby’s right, a white and pale blue Borbatusk manifested itself from a glyph-like symbol on the ground, pawing at the ground. Ruby quickly turned, wide eyed and almost fearful-looking as the summoned grimm squealed and growled charged towards her and, tusks aimed at her hip.

Ruby dodged backwards, sweeping her weapon as she did so. Its range saved her from taking any damage thanks to the boar-like grimm, but that didn’t matter considering it was just a distraction. With Ruby’s blade impaled in the summons neck, Weiss charged forward and stabbed at her, pushing her backwards as her aura absorbed the thrust. Unrelenting, Weiss continued to strike Ruby, slashing and stabbing, trying to widdle her down. All out, they had agreed. Weiss didn’t admit it even to herself, but she was desperate to prove her strength, and that desperation guided each muscle in the attack. Ruby countered in kind, with her weapon freed from the shattered summon, she attacked Weiss with large but rapid sweeping attacks, further using the recoil of the sniper rifle. Slashing attacks mixed with blunt strikes began to overwhelm Weiss.

Dodging and striking when she could, Weiss felt her forehead bead with sweat, perspiration showing the full strain of the battle. Ruby had never fought her like this. What was driving her to attack like this? Her speed was quickly becoming unmatchable for Weiss, unless she… That was it! Rotating the dust chamber in her sword, she slashed her sword towards Crescent Rose, sending an electric current through it that knocked the user back.

Quickly making distance, Weiss didn’t waste a single breath before forming the massive glyph under her, resembling a clock with accelerating hands. Time dilation was a tricky part of her semblance, both to execute and to experience. Time from her perspective would essentially slow down, allowing her to attack many times more quickly. And for Ruby, she’d hoped it’d make them even once again. Rose petals in the air no longer flew like leaves in the wind, but instead fell like heavy snowflakes on a peaceful winter morning. For just that moment, from just her eyes, the fight was exquisitely tranquil.

Then the fight reached its climax.

Unbeknownst to either girl, the fight had two different spectators; not a pair, in fact they hadn’t even been aware of each others presence. One, Weiss was suspicious of, was a crow perched on the roof of the building, occasionally taking flight and circling the area before landing in the same spot. For a crow, it sure didn’t caw much, and was quite the loner. Remaining innocuous, it’d gone unnoticed by the two during battle.

The other spectator was a girl, hidden in the shadows of the dojo leading to the courtyard itself. She was crouched down and watching the fight, though she was a late arrival. She’d only been drawn by the sound of combat, paranoid of remnant White Fang stalking them after the failed attempt to destroy Haven. Turns out, it was just an intensive sparring match, but the girl felt compelled to stay and watch thanks to the girl in white. Schnee, she thought. Who was she, really? She certainly didn’t seem to represent her family’s hideous reputation, but the faunus still felt uneasy. She wanted to know more about Weiss.

To these watchers, the fight turned into a blur of red and white, nearly incomprehensible what was going on. Glyphs formed all around the blur, and sniper rounds echoed for the entire duration, each combatant pulling out full stops to defeat the other. Climatically, the shooting stopped and the glyphs broke like glass. Weiss and Ruby stared at each other, sweating and panting. Their aura’s were even beginning to shimmer, but wasn’t close enough to breaking for them to feel threatened. Still… To Weiss, it felt like a stalemate. So, call it a draw?

No. No! She could do it! She had one more card to play Ruby; one the girl was wholly unprepared for. Just the risk of passing out from exhaustion if she did it, but at that time it felt necessary. Breathing, Weiss stabbed the ground with her rapier, focusing on one final glyph that would spawn the knight that she defeated so long ago. She wanted to do this at a seperate time, but if she was so determined to win, then she’d—

The red scythe hooked itself on the sword, and then fired. Myrtenaster went flying for several yards, impaling into the ground far out of reach. Terror filled her heart, her breathing growing frantic at a sudden, defenseless sensation. She wasn’t nearly done summoning the knight. She snapped her head back to Ruby, she saw the scythe blade swinging towards her. It’d stab her! Ruby didn’t know her aura was on the edge, it’d shatter on impact! She stood, frozen, time still seeming to move sluggishly in every moment before the impact. Fear overtaking her, she shut her eyes tight. 

The blade smashed into the ground just in front of her, embedding itself into the stone and sending fragments flying. Weiss breathed after several moments of forgetting to do so, and opened her eyes. She was unharmed. Even though her heart thumped like a rabbit from a predator, and her hands twitched, she was unharmed. Ruby, on the other hand, stared down at the weapon, her bangs obscuring her face. Swallowing, Weiss was sure she didn’t move back, trying to dodge the attack, no she had been frozen in place. 

“Ruby?” She choked out, her fear dissipating like one of her own glyphs. Why… Why had she just been afraid? She could feel her own aura, it wouldn’t have been broken by that singular attack. Sure, it was weakened, but it could take a lot more abuse than what they threw at each other? Why, why the hell had she gotten so afraid? “Ruby,” She spoke, just barely more composed. “Are you crying?”

Ruby cocked her head up, tears indeed welling in her eyes but not quite flowing yet. She spoke, her voice brittle. “You… Y-You looked terrified, Weiss. I couldn’t attack you. I’m sorry, sorry, I know we said all out, but I didn’t mean to, to throw it like that.” So, she redirected her attack to avoid her, or stepped back just in time. Or something. Ruby’s reaction time was something to marvel at.

“Throw,” Weiss muttered, crossing her arms. She still felt heavily shaken. “Throw the match? You won. You disarmed me.” Ruby looked on the verge of tears. What was the issue? “What’s wrong?” She voiced her concerns.

“I didn’t mean to,” She said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean to scare you. I…”

“It’s not your fault.” It’s mine, she thought. All mine. I was too stupid to move away from an obvious attack. In a real battle, that would have easily lead to my demise. Among all the feelings building in her chest upon seeing Ruby so flustered, Weiss was also desperate to understand why she just couldn’t move. Winter would probably yell at her if she ever did that with her, so why did that happen? She clenched and unclenched her fist a few times, hating herself. Stupid girl. Can’t even fight right. A real prissy heiress that’s never slain a grimm in her life, it’d appear.

Ruby tore the scythe from the ground and had it transform back into its compact mode. With it in one hand she walked off, downtrodden and defeated. Weiss was silent, speechless. She didn’t know what to say to her friend. Her best friend, and she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even know if she should say anything, or just leave her be. Stop her, or let her walk off and have some time alone. Weiss felt torn: her knuckles went white, and her eyes stung. Seeing Ruby like that hurt so much. Finally, Ruby muttered without stopping. “Thanks for the practice, Weiss. It was fun. Just, sorry I’m not feeling well.”

And then she was gone, and Weiss was addled. Her only guess that could have possibly caused such a sudden and vicious mood change in the normally bubbly girl is the battle from some days ago. The previous night, Ruby seemed so distraught. It made sense, sure, but Weiss didn’t understand such a reaction over a little thing like her freezing up in a fight. That was her issue, was it not? Ruby had nothing to do with it.

Or… Weiss closed her eyes. A long, drawn out exhale left her nose and she crossed her arms, a memory surfacing. The party. That was right, at that farcical charity event, she’d reached a tipping point and blew up on a woman. No, really, she blew up on everyone there. No one understood her, no one cared about the Fall of Beacon. They looked at it like anyone looked at a tragedy that didn’t affect them. At best, they show empty, worthless sympathy for a few days or weeks and then moving on like nothing happened. But something certainly did happen to her, and everyone important to her. Events that will stay with her for her entire life.

“...This cynicism isn’t healthy,” She told herself, trying to force rational thought to crack through that wall of defeat. That wasn’t how the world was, right? There were certainly rotten people out there, and most certainly people who didn’t care one ounce for the suffering of others as long as it didn’t have any consequence on them, but most people did care, right? Maybe not as much as they should, but it's foolish to expect everyone to show one hundred percent empathy. People weren’t made like that. “If my hair wasn’t already silver, I’d probably be getting gray hairs already.” She sighed, and almost like the world was responding to her, she felt a cold gust of wind followed by a distinctively husky caw from a black bird. No, it wasn’t the world responding to her. Just a drunkard.


	2. Recollections & Heroism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaken by her encounter with Ruby, Weiss finds herself distanced from her closest ally, and is at a loss on how to approach her. Tired and frustrated, Weiss would have turned in for an early nap if an emergency didn't demand her attention. A minor mission that may give her what she needs most now: introspection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back! So sorry for the wait, a lot of stuff came up, and that delayed me finishing this chapter by a lot. Hopefully, anyone who read the first chapter will still be interested in it continuing. I'll explain more in the endnotes.
> 
> As for this chapter itself, I'll say it's the most experimental thing I've written. I'm not a professional writer or anything, and honestly, I'm still very inexperienced outside of RP, so writing multiple characters in dynamic scenes is a bit of new territory for me. I really hope you all enjoy it, and as before I'm open to criticism! We'll be back to our irregularly scheduled intimacy next chapter.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Like the mad beating of a hunters drum, her heart pumped blood throughout her body rapidly, several times more quickly than the normal pace of the sensitive muscle. Each thump was visible past the layers of blood vessels, muscles, flesh, breasts, and thin fabric that guarded her heart. Air inflated and deflated her lungs several times each second, icy air nipping at her and burning her from the nasal cavity, down the sternum, straight to the center of gravity. Warmth wasn’t even gifted from the blindingly bright creature that was snapping its jaws mere inches from her face, better suited for a pristine girl of high class rather than a huntress in changing.

The muscles under her pale arms strained, burning, their strength rapidly giving way to the creature twice her size. Her knuckles were white as snow, and she felt weakness overtake her. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t beat it! She had to surrender, she had to give in, she had to know when to retreat. Panic struck at her core, and as she heard the other beasts surrounding her preparing to lunge at her, she shut her eyes tight and slammed her head backwards, away from the summoned monster. It was all she could do not to shriek in the terror that gripped her heart with an iron gauntlet.

“Winter!” She cried out, hearing the snarling of the other survivors closing the distance to her. Horrifying images clouded her rational thought. What if her sister lost control of the monsters? What if their natural instinct took total control? Grimm were vicious, and left their victims in a most gruesome state if given the opportunity. Razor sharp claws would penetrate her gut, tear into her, slicing apart every vital organ that kept her body running. If the simple thought of death didn’t scare her, the thought of being literally ripped apart by a pack of beowolves did. They didn’t do it to survive, they did it simply for the joy of the kill. These things were not animals, but instead the product of sadism manifest. And there she was, pressed against the frozen stone ground, with a pile of them above her.

Then, as suddenly as she found herself in that situation, she felt the push of the main attacker let up. It no longer inched closer and closer to her with every snap, but instead began to dissipate, allowing even her feeble resistance to push it away, at least enough so that it’s frosty breath no longer nipped at her skin. And then, as she dared open her eyes to the shape of a mere slit, she saw the beasts turn translucent, the light above beginning to shine through and vague, black, blotchy shapes becoming visible. Then, they shifted to transparency, like glass figures. And finally, the images of their bodies began to disappear completely, the last remnant of their existence being the afterglow of their arctic eyes. After even that vanished, the light of their gaze burned into her vision.

She lied there for several moments. Right, training. It’s just training. Winter would never let the grimm she summoned to actually wound Weiss in any serious many. Cuts and bruises were bound to occur in such an exercise, but she was never in any real danger, was she? Of course not. Her sister had control. Even if that beowulf had bitten her, her aura was strong and she’d not have been wounded unless it dropped for any reason.

Her breathing slowed, and as she lifted herself from her back to her knees, she took deep, controlled breaths that calmed her and slowed her heart rate. Her shoulder blades ached from being pressed on the stone ground, begging to return to her cloud-like mattress. It wasn’t the time for that, though. Staring forward, she saw Winter approaching. She must’ve dropped from her vantage point only moments ago, and saw fit to grab Myrtenaster while closing the distance between them. She also saw fit to throw the rapier towards the ground, point first. Her considerable strength allowed her to throw the blade with enough force to impale the ground, causing a resounding ring that barely made Weiss flinch. She suppressed the motion as well as she could, feeling she’d humiliated herself well enough.

Her older sister stared down at her with stern gaze, her expression like stone despite the panic only moments ago. It reaffirmed in Weiss’s mind that her fear was entirely unnecessary and only further showed weakness in the face of battle. And now, Weiss was experiencing an entirely different breed of fear and anxiety. That look must’ve been what Winter received from her superiors on a daily basis, regardless of action or objective. It was a look of amoral judgement, that only ceased when the taller girl blew hot air from her nose and shut her azure eyes.

“I’m not always going to be around to save you, Weiss.” She was being straight and factual, her tone entirely under her control and each word perfectly calculated to sit and ruminate in Weiss’s mind. That was Winter to a tee. She’d only developed that trait in the last few years, and Weiss felt both admiration and vexation towards it. It was quite representative of her entire personality, though; Winter was calculated and factual, with very little tenderness slipping through, even if she did dearly love her sister with all her heart. Weiss had wished she’d be given at least a little affection after that disastrous performance, but she knew this was a necessary method to train her mentally and emotionally.

“I know,” She muttered, averting her gaze from Winter’s disappointed expression. Most people felt anger was preferable to disappointment when it came to someone they looked up to, but for her relationship with her sister, it was like comparing biting a lemon slice to a shot of hard liquor. “I’ll get better.” Her words may have sounded empty. She certainly thought they did. But they were one-hundred percent genuine, with the only hurdle being a break in confidence and a lack of energy. She was, after all, rather exhausted. She wouldn’t have been cornered like that if she wasn’t, right? A lump formed in her throat as she desperately searched for an explanation to her failure when the answer was simply that she couldn’t hold her own against such a large group of enemies for so long.

She heard Winter inhale, as if she were thinking of the right words to follow up with. Would she turn to a softer form of discipline after gauging Weiss’s emotional state, or would she press further, scolding each of the younger girls mistakes in battle and urging her to stand and try again. The answer came to her before long, when Winter began to walk off with her arms behind her back. “You’ll have to if you ever want to leave.” Ah, so that’s how she’d do it. Weiss took that as a strong sign that they were done for the night and she was meant to reflect on what she’d done wrong. Too bad, she was already prepared to lie awake all night going over it in her head regardless. Still, Weiss felt something else in her tone. Winter knew what was important to her, and instead of simply telling her that she did poorly, she showed why that mattered. Albeit, in an impersonal manner.

“Right,” Weiss whispered to herself, balling her fist on her skirt then loosening her grip and relaxing her muscles. Right. She was right. She listened to Winter’s footsteps echo throughout the now peaceful courtyard, towards their mansion. And, for a minute after those steps became inaudible, Weiss still sat on the stone floor and made peace with herself. She failed this session, but it was all towards the greater goal of strengthening her in every manner of the word. So that she may pursue her studies at what was known across Remnant as the best huntsman academy. In truth, it was one of four truly great academies, each with their own merits, but Beacon was known for being the most balanced. And she’d prefer it to the strict military discipline of her home land.

Yes. She had her goals fixed. Standing, the girl rubbed her knees, which had grown red from pressing against the ground for so long. The air was cold. The kind of cold that surpassed surface level chills and cooled one’s bodies. But, well, she didn’t mind one bit. Even though she was quite underdressed for Atlassian weather so close to the solstice, it was actually a little relaxing. The cold never bothered her too much, and she even worried of there being sweltering summers down south, when she’d be attending school there. When, not if. Both literally and figuratively, she’d put her foot down. Sure, her father disapproved, but she tried to ignore that. Besides, being a huntress didn’t mean she’d surrender her right to the company that carried the world on its shoulders.

Staring at her sword, she sighed and thought to herself. Winter would be leaving that morning for a mission, and wouldn’t return for two weeks, maybe three. Her older sister was an adult in every sense of the word, and she was starting to see her less and less. She never voiced this, but it pained her to have this distance between them.

“Well,” She began, speaking to herself and only herself. “I guess that’ll just give me time to sharpen my skills without her watching me. Then, I’ll show her that I can… I can be strong enough to leave.” With those words, she gripped the handle of the blade, and pulled it free from the ground.

*

It’d taken her quite a bit of strength to free her rapier from the shattered cobblestone. Ruby’s scythe seemed to have launched it with enough velocity that it sunk half way into what was mainly comprised of stone and thick dirt. Impressive, she had to admit. Examining the blade, she saw it lacked any noticeable damage, aside from discoloration where the other blade had been. Even that was nearly unnoticeable, which was truly a testament to the craftsmanship of her signature weapon. Any other sword would likely be permanently scarred at best, and shattered in two at worst. Hell, with the strength of that disarmament, she was lucky Ruby didn’t break her wrist.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her like that,” A husky voice mused behind her. Weiss wasn’t too terribly startled or surprised by the appearance of the old man. Ever since she saw his sister transform from a raven into her true form, right before her very eyes, Weiss was rather suspicious of any black bird when she couldn’t see both Raven and Qrow at the same time. And considering Raven was gone, she was suspicious all the time. With no sign of Qrow in the inn, and no note letting them know he was out on the town as well, what other conclusion could she come to. Craning her head, she watched him approach, his back hunched and his stubble scruffier than usual. He looked down at the cracked stone and sighed. “You kids gotta be careful, we’ll lose our safety deposit on this place if you keep breaking stuff.”

“It’s only a hole in the ground and a few cracks,” She huffed, crossing her arms. It was amazing the courtyard wasn’t more torn up from the constant training that happened there, but then again they normally trained in less extreme ways than that prior battle. In fact, a whole lot of it was hand-to-hand combat and evasion techniques, nothing terribly destructive outside of a shop full of porcelain and ceramic pots. “I hear you destroyed an entire town fighting a scorpion faunus; collapsing houses and such.”

“You’re leaving some details out there, kid. Deliberately, if you’re anything like your sister.” That comment kind of pissed her off. Sure, he was right, but she wasn’t doing it to get on his nerves or anything of the sort, and she didn’t appreciate the negative connotation of that comparison. “Town was derelict, that faunus was a lackey for Salam, and he was trying to take Ruby. Gods know why, I’d rather not think of it.” She understood. That woman, Cinder, was in such terrible condition because of Ruby’s power. Weiss felt uncomfortable, imagining that Cinder may have taken the old saying ‘Eye for an Eye’ very literally.

“Sorry,” She said, downtrodden. Holstering her weapon, she wondered if she should go find Ruby and make sure she was alright.

“Nah, don’t worry.” He stepped closer to her and rubbed the top of her head, affectionately. The smell of bourbon on his breath made her cringe, but she felt that his sudden affection was on par with how he treated his niece. It was both sweet and a little creepy at the same time. Seriously, was her relation to Ruby enough to warrant a soft noogie.

“You’re drunk,” She said, stepping back. She’d prefer not to have her nostrils assaulted by the smell of liquor.

“I’m always drunk,” He smirked, as if it was something to be proud of. “Thing is, I can hold my liquor. So I’m not constantly smashed, just buzzed most the time. What can I say, it helps me relax.” He shrugged, with his manure-dining grin. Weiss just felt herself grow more annoyed with him. Why was he even still here, shouldn’t he be going to Ruby? She didn’t need to know how he spent his time indulging in depressants.

“Hmph,” She stepped back further, wanting to end this conversation sooner rather than later. The more she talked to this man, the higher the chance to get a migraine. “An alcoholic is an alcoholic whether they can function while drunk or not. Don’t try to make excuses just so you can down more of that flask.” Whiskey, wine, it made no difference to her. The drink was a poison if over indulged, and she’d grown up seeing those over indulgences near-daily.

“You cut deep.”

“Like my sister?” She smiled, taking his prior comparison with pride.

“Your sister is an adult, so no. I can actually take her seriously.” Please, she was only a child to him because he was old. What, he must’ve been in his forties? At least late thirties.

“Well, I gotta go, so…” She began to shuffle away, aloof and tired. She noticed his face went from carefree to serious once he saw she was seriously ready to move on.

“Wait, Weiss.” She stopped in her tracks. Why was it so strange to hear her name coming from his mouth, rather than a nickname or general term. With her attention returned to the drunkard, she watched him and waited for him to speak. “You’re worried about Ruby, right?” He looked solemn, and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets.

“No, why would you ever get that idea?” She said, fasciously. Of course she was worried about Ruby, why did he even need to ask? She’d never seen such a bad streak in that normally hyper girl in all the time she’s known her. Even in times of strife at Beacon, she’d never seemed so troubled. Qrow looked confused for a moment before his dulled brain caught on to her tone.

“That sarcasm’s gonna hold you back in life, ice princess. It’s unbecoming of someone my niece admires so much,” His back hunched further, and his red eyes stared down into her core. She averted her gaze, knowing he was right. She felt slightly guilty over the attitude she was taking up with him. He was concerned for Ruby, just like her. She was probably just being more judgemental of him thanks to his habit. Wordlessly, she nodded. “Now, I know you’re worried about her. And I think you can tell that she’s worried about you as well. If I had to guess, she’s sulking in bed or drinking out of a gallon of milk right about now. So, in case you were thinking of approaching her right now, don’t worry about that. She’ll either be asleep or writhing through a stomach in, uh…” He looked towards the sky, impressively with his humped back. “Two.”

“Hours?”

“Minutes.”

Of course. Everything about Ruby was fast. She passed out fast, she ate and drank fast, and her mood swings were breakneck.

“Give her a little while. She’ll feel better later, then you can probably talk to her.” He shrugged, his hands still nestled in his black trousers. Weiss felt her frustration with the old man return, but she made sure to hold back her viper language this time around.

“I can’t just wait idly by while she feels like this, Qrow. Somethings shaken her, and I think she’s trying to bottle it up. Which, you know, she’s bad at. But there has to be something I can say to her.” Her eyebrows were furled, not looking away from the man this time. She would stand her ground this time.

“Did I say that? Uh… Wait, did I actually? I meant just let her rest for now.” Weiss felt ready to protest, mostly motivated by a rebellious nature towards him. He raised a finger to her lips, shushing her. It wasn’t the first time he’d done something so rude, but he was awfully lucky she had her sword holstered, or she might’ve smacked him away. Okay, no she wouldn’t, but the thought made her feel better. “Besides, you ain’t a therapist. And even if you were, a good therapist knows when to press and when to let up. Probably, I dunno.”

“So, you’re a councillor at Signal, I’m guessing?” The sarcasm was not lost on Qrow for even a moment this time, and he shook his head with his eyes closed, as if to say ‘you’ll never learn.’ She understood, and promptly responded with a modicum of seriousness. “So, just wait for her to come out on her own?”

“Hm. Wanna take a walk?”

“What?”

“Listen.”

“...What?” He just said listen, as if he was about to say something important that she should take to heart, but then just stood there, hunching his back even further. She was about to ask him what he meant, before she heard it. Emitting from the man was a faint, intermediate buzzing that sounded almost like a heartbeat. Brmm brmm, brmm brmm… brmm brmm, brmm brmm, brmm brmm… brmm brmm. “Is that your scroll?” He nodded. “You gonna answer it?”

“It’s not ringing, it’s a message notification. Well, to be more… Uh, what’s the word… To be more accurate, it’s a constant stream of messages. Now, only a few people message me lately, and only two like that. Considering Ruby’s in there, and not feeling very well, that leaves—”

“You could just open it, you know.”

“I almost don’t want to. His typing is a bit horrendous when he messages this quickly.” Horrendous, a big word for a drunk, she thought. Qrow straightened his back and removed the scroll from his pocket, sliding it open and staring at the stream of messages coming from it. Weiss could see past the screen, but it was a bit hard reading messages backwards. Especially when they’re so… Jumbled. You’d almost think the person on the other end was typing with their eyes shut. Qrow began to type in a series of words, slowly. “On… My… Way.” He muttered. “Like I said, we can talk as we walk, if you’d like. Oscar got separated from the others out there and is freaking out a little, so I’m gonna go find him. He said he’s near the bar we first met.”

“That can’t be too far. How come he can’t find his own way back?” She didn’t mean to sound cold, it just seemed odd. Oscar had Ozpin in his mind after all.

“Said he thinks someone’s following him.” Weiss tensed up, but Qrow remained nonchalant, as if he was just assuming Oscar was being paranoid. Still, that seemed like something they should take seriously regardless.

"We can’t very well just hoof it over there if it’s serious. You can turn into a bird, so…”

“And it’s down the hill. You can probably use your glyphs to jump down pretty quickly, right? We’ll talk on our way back.”

And just like that, they had a well coordinated travel plan for a lazy afternoon rescue mission. An unlikely duo to be sure, but they both had maneuverability on their sides.

*

Oscar hadn’t been at the bar, and wasn’t answering his scroll messages either. They tracked the piece of technology down without too much issue, considering it had a beacon on it, but its user was nowhere to be found. An abandoned scroll found on the curb just outside a bar, with its user MIA? The cliche was not lost on her, but that hardly mattered. Weiss quickly shot a message onto Yang’s scroll, and the response was not very inspiring. “We don’t know where he is either. There was a mob of assholes trying to get in on a sale of something. Spread us all around. We’ll keep an eye out. GO TEAM QWBY AND TEAM NJR!” The thought of Qrow leading her team left Weiss in cold sweat, and as for NJR, that just looked weird. Almost sad, as it reminded her of Ruby’s current condition, not to even dare mention a wound that hadn’t closed yet for any of them.

After that brief exchange, Qrow nodded to her and ducked into an alley. Shortly after, a crow flew out and rose over the rooftops of the busy area. A literal birds eye view was invaluable for their search party. Now, she didn’t have that advantage, but she was a people person and wasted no time questioning the locals. Typically, random people on the street weren’t helpful in locating the boy, and the most she got out of shopkeepers was that maybe they saw a boy like that. Yeah, they knew a boy like she was describing, but his eyes were blue, or his skin was pale, or his face was only a little dotted with freckles, or he was bald. After about twenty minutes, she started to feel as if her time would be better spent asking a dog about Oscar. Desperate, she turned to the initial search sites main attraction.

Roach’s Longue was not a very inviting name for a bar by any means. It painted images of a seedy underworld tavern that was full of thugs and, yes, cockroaches. So it was a bit surprising that the place was actually classy looking. Like a good place to actually relax and lose yourself in quiet conversation, a good book, or obviously a stiff drink. That was her only real problem with the place: the smell. For some asinine reason, the bar had a carpet instead of a hard floor, so any spills around the counter soaked in and left odor of the various drinks that met it. Sake, whiskey, wine, beer, vodka… Her nose wrinkled, which the bartender seemed to notice.

“You’re new? Don’t worry, we have a deep cleaning every week. It’s only like that because we’re on the tale end of the week, ya know?” She spoke. The woman was tall, and very well toned. She must’ve gotten a lot of exercise outside of the bar. Paired with that, her close cropped straw colored hair almost made her look like a boy, though Weiss didn’t comment on that. Maybe that was their intention, or maybe just a consequence of the style. Weiss swallowed. Her hair and skin were lighter, her eyes forest green rather than steel blue, and her general frame was quite larger, but the barkeep almost looked like Vernal to her. She didn’t have any tattoos though, at least none she could see with the girl dressed in a beige, long sleeved bartender outfit, only missing a bow tie to complete the natural look.

“Uhm…” Words caught in Weiss’s throat; this was not her natural environment and the girl intimidated her more than a Borbatusk. “N-No, I’m not a patron, I’m just looking for someone.” She wondered if Qrow knew this woman. If she was just a part time drink mixer, probably not. But she had presence, and an aura of importance in the posh but gloomy setting. Was she the owner? “I’m Weiss, by the way. Are you… Roach?”

The woman’s face contorted, as if she was holding back a snicker. “Nope.”

“Oh. Is the owner around here?” Weiss rubbed her index finger forward and back on the laminate countertop.

“Yeah, she’s right in front of you.”

Weiss blushed. “Sorry! With the name, I thought the owner would be… Y’know, named Roach.”

“Who the hell names their kid Roach?” She had a point. Though, who the hell would name their nice bar Roach. It was surprising that they even had a good group of customers. Most of them looked like regular people, for Mistral at least. The name “Roach” implies a grimy place full of crooks, while “Longue” inspires images of well dressed, classy patrons. Perhaps the cliche’s cancelled out, and all patrons were just dressed normally, acted normally, and paid normally. No making it rain, or broken-bottle threats. Wait, scratch just being normal. Most of them appeared to be a bit on the older side, with graying sideburns and wrinkled eyes. “I’m the owner, ever since my ma’ stepped down. Oh, don’t misunderstand, she just hated working here. She didn’t die.” Weiss didn’t ask. “Are you wondering why we named our bar off of a disgusting insect?”

“Well, maybe.”

“Ha! Knew you weren’t from around here, Miss.” She flashed a toothy grin, as if she just got a confession out of a felon and couldn’t contain her pride. Weiss on the other hand was suddenly very on edge. What if not-Roach was a spy for Salem, or something? Maybe she kidnapped Oscar and was using him as bait. Damn it, why did she give her name, her father might have a bounty after her. Then, the woman pointed towards the bars windows, where sunlight was pouring in. “Out the door and to the right, there’s a stream with water as clear as glass. I doubt you missed it.”

“I didn’t,” Weiss answered cautiously.

“Well, that stream sees a lot of traffic from a certain type of fish. The gold roach, native to Mistral. Like a common roach, but its scales are golden and reflect sunlight really well. So, sometimes that stream is pretty beautiful.” Oh, right. It clicked in Weiss’s mind. The name of the bar referred to a local fish, rather than an oversized insect. Most locals probably understood the name quickly, which meant this bar actually didn’t wear a crippling name. “Everyone around here knows about that. Hell, one huntsman I used to know always stopped here after a long day, even named his dog after that river. And by proxy, this bar, so I gave him a lowkey discount. It’s been years since I’ve seen Gerald though, sadly.”

Weiss nodded, enthralled for a minute. No wonder this woman ran this place, she was quite charismatic. Maybe it was just a slow day, considering how quiet it was inside the establishment. Clearing her throat, she remembered why she stepped in. “Again, looking for a boy. Someone particular, I think he got lost around here.”

“Well, let’s see,” The butch girl muttered, looking upwards and silently performing a headcount on the other patrons at the establishment. “Seven. Ugh, slow this time of day, especially with Hayseed slashing his prices at his ‘emporium.’ Well, those people will find that they get what they pay for. You said you’re not a patron? You sure, I can give you a round on the house to start with.” Yeah, she didn’t need to look at the other seven people in the tavern to know they weren’t who she was looking for.

“I don’t drink.” This was getting frustrating, she could barely keep up with the woman. “And neither does the person I’m looking for. Or at least, he better not.” Ozpin wouldn’t let him, right? Ugh, with Qrow as company, Gods knew.

“Think all drinks are bitter? I can make some mean cocktails. It’s in the job description obviously. But suit yourself, probably for the best you’re not…” She leaned in close and whispered. “Not the kind of girl to spend a warm afternoon drinking alone in a bar. It’s kinda sad.” Considering how unprofessional this woman was prior, it was surprising she even bothered to keep that comment between the two of them. Standing straight up again, she tapped the counter rapidly. “Sorry, got sidetracked. Uh… Yeah, okay! You’re looking for someone, miss?”

Finally, the conversation looked like it could start going her way again. Despite how assertive the barkeep seemed, she at least seemed friendly enough to help. “Yes, uhm… Yes. His name’s Oscar. Just a little shorter than me, brown hair, tan, has green eyes and freckles, uh…”

“Does he talk to himself?” She crossed her arms. Weiss’s expression lit up and she nodded. “And your his friend. About his age?” Again, Weiss nodded, a bit more anxious now that the bartender seemed to be probing. “So,” She closed her eyes and looked frustrated. “Did I just offer drinks to a minor?”

“Oh. Uhm, I’m eighteen. I don’t know the legal drinking age is here, and I turned you down anyway, so it shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

The woman’s shoulders relaxed, and her tightly crossed arms loosened. “Oh, good. The last thing I need is another fine.” Resting her hands on the counter, she blew some air and looked towards the ceiling, lost in thought. “Yeah, I saw that kid a couple times. Once a few weeks ago. He had to carry that handsome newbie outta here. I didn’t mind because there was no one else here anyway. Then, just a half hour ago, he stormed in here and sputtered something about being jumped.”

“Jumped!?” Not a good sign, not a good sign at all! Was it the white fang, for real?

“Well, I… Ahem. Professionally pointed out that this was where that bloody mob was getting really busy, considering Hayseed’s dumpster is just down the street. Seriously, people think, ‘Oh, that guy’s selling a computer terminal for only fifty lien! Talk about a deal!’ Well, you get what you pay for. When that thing breaks down in a week, you only have yourself to blame for, uh, for. Ahem, sorry, I’m rambling. I just let him know that someone probably shoved him trying to get at those sales.”

“Right.”

“Well, turns out he dropped his scroll, and couldn’t contact his friends. Apparently he already let some people know he was near, so I offered to let him wait here! ‘Cause I’m nice.”

If that was the case, then where was he? If he wasn’t at the bar, then he may have still been in danger. Weiss tapped the countertop impassionately, feeling every passing second go by at an excruciatingly slow pace.

“Well, then,” She said in a hushed voice, her eyes glancing to a table in the far right corner, adjacent to the front door. “A guard walked in. And not just any city guard, this guy is a real P.O.S. I swear he only comes in here to look for an excuse to write me up. I couldn’t have a minor in here with him, so I tried to send him on his way. He protested, then asked for a marker, so I gave him one and pushed him along.” A marker? Maybe without his scroll, he was going to leave a breadcrumb trail? That was so convoluted, though. Why not just stay by the door. “Then, a group of four guys, around their early twenties, followed him out a minute later. Assholes didn’t even pay, so I was just peeved at the time, but it did seem suspicious.” Oh no, oh no, oh no!

“W-Were any of them a faunus?” The woman frowned at that, looking a bit wary of her.

“Only one. Don’t see how it matters, honestly.” Oh, that’s how it sounded. She didn’t have any time to actually defend herself though, with the situation being so dire. If there was only one, they probably weren’t White Fang, and Oscar would have recognized people like Emerald and Mercury.

“How long ago was this?”

“I think about two minutes before you walked in, actually? No, it definitely was. I know because I’ve been staring at the clock just waiting for today to end.” That was it! So, if she was lucky, she’d be able to track Oscar down before those guys got to him. He could likely defend himself for enough time so she could save him.

“T-Thank you! You’re a lifesaver, Ma’am!” The woman nodded her head, and Weiss ran towards the front door, frantic to reach Oscar. They’d be leaving for Atlas in time, and there was no way they’d step foot out of the city without both their old headmaster and their new companion by their side. As she pushed the door open, she heard a man raise his voice, threatening to write up a woman named Cyan up for allowing customers to run out like that. Huh. Ill fitting, but it was a nice name regardless.

The chorus of citizens scrambling through the street did not dissuade her as she took a left right out the bar door and headed towards the alley between Roach’s Longue and what appeared to be some sort of trinket shop. If she put Lien on the direction Oscar would go, it’d be towards this alley. Close by, away from crowds, and a good place to wait for a rescue. It wouldn’t help if he was trying to avoid criminals, but with the amount of people just outside of it, being in a crowd wouldn’t be much better. Guards weren’t likely to be vigilant to him getting dragged off to Gods knew where.

Sure enough, on the brown brick wall of the trinket shop, there was a very clear red ‘X’ marked with several strokes for each line. Under it, there was a message. Stepping closer, Weiss examined the small words and understood immediately. ‘Crows are bad luck.’ Cryptic, but it was obvious that it was meant to grab Qrow’s attention without being too obvious. If he’d investigated this area more closely, this entire march would have been much quicker.

Sprinting down the alley, she spotted another X on the wall towards the end, with the only way to go being towards the right. This led to an open space with three more exits, one on the opposite side of the trinket shop, one straight from where she faced, and one to the left again. There was an X on the wall ahead, which must’ve meant that was the way to go.

This continued for three more turns, thankfully mapping out the maze of narrow spaces between buildings. This was a commercial district, so it was no wonder there were so many buildings clumped together, making the space between them like an ant hive. Nearly through the journey, Weiss thanked her lucky stars she wasn’t claustrophobic. She began to squeeze through a particularly narrow space, having to breathe in and hold her breath so she could even fit without issue. Her holster was strained and her blade dragged against the wall. She slowed to a crawl as she heard voices on the other side. Poking her head through, she saw a large space that would be prime real estate if it were not walled off on all sides.

“You’re dead you little twig! Cough up the money and maybe I’ll leave with only breaking your arm and knocking out a tooth. Don’t, and I’ll start to have fun.” Not a good start, she noted. As she stealthily peaked past the aisle, she saw a most bizarre scene. There was Oscar, and four men: five in total. Despite that, only two were standing. One, a lanky looking young man, and another being a bulky looking faunus with claw like nails and a stubby tail poking through his pants. Part wolverine, she wondered? There were two more average looking thugs on the ground, seemingly out cold. And under the lankey man was Oscar, a foot pressing into his sternum. He looked in pain.

“I… T-Told you, I didn’t bring any,” He spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes shut tight. In response, the thug raised his foot and stomped into Oscar’s ribs, knocking the wind out of the boy. With white knuckles, Weiss seethed. She couldn’t stand by and watch a pair of grown men torment a boy who was barely into his teens. Sure, he was training for bigger threats, but that didn’t excuse the behavior of this scum. “Just walk away… You can still get away from this.” Far too bold. She slid through the space and quickly approached the group just the man raised his leg, this time aiming for Oscar’s face.

“You mother… Hey!” He stopped just narrowly of saying something quite rude. The man must’ve heard her approach, but it was all the better that he didn’t hurt Oscar so severely. With his foot up and his guard down, Oscar did something only she suspected. Rolling out of the man’s range, he nimbly jumped to his feet and backed away. Impulsive anger must’ve overtaken the larger man, because he quickly dashed for Oscar just as the boy snatched a lead pipe from the ground, and…

Crack!

The pipe swung upward and slammed into the faunus’s chin with such velocity and force that the sound reverberated through the entire area. As the man collapsed, his chin gashed and his teeth likely rearranged and missing, Oscar panted and stepped back, his face considerably more pale than usual. With shaky hands, he dropped the now bent pipe onto the dirt floor, creating a puff and cloud of dust. Weiss assumed with the absence of his cane, that pipe allowed him to even the odds against the group.

“How the hell do you keep doing that? You’re a kid and you’ve probably crippled all of them,” The man’s face was shaky, showing an obvious fear of the boy. And rightfully so. Oscar dashed over to Weiss and hid behind her arm. She glanced down at him, not willing to take her eyes completely off the criminal.

“You okay?” She asked, worried he might have had a bruised rib or an injured limb.

“Yeah. They couldn’t do much with my aura up, and I took them off guard. That skinny guy was just a lot harder to hit than the others,” Weiss analyzed him, and it became quite obvious how the group of thieves caught Oscar. The boy had a small frame, but it likely took him a second to squeeze through the narrow gap into this area. It’d probably be no issue for that pursuer though, giving him a severe advantage in the chase that probably occurred before. “He’s not much, but he’s more skilled than any ordinary crook.” Oscar paused, then muttered. “Ozpin says he tends to dodge to the right, but I didn’t notice.”

Hmm. So he was agile. That could have been a problem if she wasn’t as well. This guy was nothing, just a street thug that thought he was tough. No White Fang. No Branwen tribe member. No pawn of Salem. Just a guy who picks on those he thinks is weaker than him. Weiss gripped her blade and stepped forward. She’d just scare him, maybe freeze his leg to the ground, nothing too serious. To her shock, however, the man stepped back and pulled a collapsed gun from behind him, it quickly extended into what looked like a triple-barreled sawed-off shotgun. Then a shot rang out, loud enough to frighten birds a mile away.

She stumbled back, grimacing from the shot. Her aura flickered, having barely protected her from the three shells that landed on her chest, each likely with a high grain count and an absurd amount of dust. Electricity, she thought. For a petty criminal, it was an incredibly impressive weapon. Her aura wasn’t fully regenerated from her fight with Ruby, which meant she was in potentially very real peril right then. She could take another blast like that, maybe two, before her aura collapsed, and she wasn’t inclined on testing if she could even take that.

“There! You have one of those shields too, huh? Well guess what, there’s plenty more where that came from.” Smirking, the man stepped forward, making Weiss retreat backwards. This was bad, really bad. He held the shotgun tight with both hands, pointed straight towards her upper body, head included. “Pfft. I dunno what you want with the twerp, but here’s the deal. I know that shield thing will break eventually, so how about you hand that kid over so I can get even. Along with your lien, richie bitch. Then you can walk away.” He glanced to Oscar, and smirked like a hungry animal. “He’ll have to hobble.”

“He’s a teenager, what is wrong with you?” Think, Weiss. Could you dodge his next blast, then take him out? Sure, that was possible, but Oscar was totally exhausted and probably had just a sliver of aura left, if any. Communicating with him would be difficult with this scumbag hawking over them, too. She’d have to let him think he’s winning, make his guard fall. Alright. Yes, that worked.

“That ain’t no damn teenager! No kid can fight like that. Maybe he’s young, but that doesn’t mean he can get off scott free with pummelling my gang.” It was a fairly pathetic gang. The man cocked his gun, making every muscle in Weiss’s body tense up. Don’t freeze now, Weiss! He may have had the advantage now, but that’d be easy to take away provided she was smart. Compared to the battle of Haven, this would be child’s play. “Hey, I dunno if you can tell, but this isn’t a piece shooter. It’s a modified Atlesian military shotgun. This thing could take down a Gorilla Grimm.”

Maybe after about two dozen well aimed shots. The gun was impressive, but this man clearly didn’t know what he was talking about when it came to grimm. No surprise it was made in Atlas though; that silver finish wasn’t common anywhere else. Digging her fingernails into her opposite elbow, Weiss scrambled for an idea. Some sort of escape. And then, it came to her.

“Do you know who I am?” A simple question that clearly took him aback. Maybe if he watched the Vytal festival tournament, he’d recognize her. And if he did, she’d work with that. But if he didn’t…

“Should I?” Bingo. Weiss smiled deviously.

“Probably not. Not unless you travel, at least. Ever leave this city?” She inched forward as she spoke. The man gripped his gun tighter and tighter.

“Few times. I used to run with a bigger crew, but they all got arrested a few weeks ago. Now I’m running with these chumps.”

“Shame,” She said, trying to look completely composed. Another inch closer. She seriously didn’t want to get shot again, and was betting desperately on her intimidation abilities. It was dead silent for several seconds before she continued. “I’m… Spring.” It was the first name that popped into her head, and she felt a pang of guilt for using it.

“Spring who?” The man spat.

Weiss was silent for a moment before continuing. “Spring Amitola.” It was a sloppy alias, stealing two names of two particular people that were making some impression on her. She didn’t intend to give her name so carelessly again, especially not to a lowlife like this. And using the name’s of any of their party would be foolish. Rose, Xiao Long, Valkyrie. Ilia was a new addition, and even if she should have picked a different name, she was stuck with this. “I come from a group far to the west. Run by a merciless leader by the name of Raven Branwen.” His eyes widened. There you go. Seems the Branwen’s tribe’s infamy reached far and wide. “Now, I wasn’t sent here for you, or for this kid. I just have a particular distaste for cowards like you.

“Don’t misunderstand, though. I came here because someone failed at Haven Academy. Raven doesn’t accept failures, so I’ve come to make a memorable example of him.” She smiled wider, trying to look as hideously sadistic as possible. “Now, what would Raven do if her favorite hitwoman got shot in an alley by a two bit crook? Well, she’d be incredibly disappointed in me for one. But then, well… She’d make that killer into a living bonfire.”

It worked. She intimidated him. Far, far too much. The man stumbled back, screamed, and fired his gun once again. And again. And again.

Each shell sparking off the broad side of a massive sword, held by a man who stunk of spirits. The bangs of the shotgun turned to clicks as the weapon became parched, in which time Qrow wasted no time lowering his sword, balling his fist, and knocking the man off his feet and onto his ground. His nose was surely hurting after that strike. It was actually a rather anti-climatic ending. Or… Was it? Was it not an ending, but rather the prelude to an even more terrifying chapter to this day, as Qrow turned around and burned holes in both her and Oscar with his red glare.

“Are you both idiots?”

*

Oscar, Qrow, and Weiss sat on a bench, in that order. It was a nice bench, comfortable and far away from the commercial district. Oscar stared off into the distance, as if trying to mentally escape Qrow’s judgment. Weiss just sat there and listened to his call with Yang.

“Yeah, we found him. Just be back before dark, all of you. Your vacation won’t be lasting much longer.” It was strange to hear Qrow take a position of authority. Frankly, he was kind of a smartass. “Yep, love you firecracker. Don’t break anyone’s bones.” Just before he killed the call, she could hear Yang protest his little comment with a wrath. He slipped his own scroll into his pocket and pulled out another, scuffed and cracked, with it’s screen flickering when opened.

“Technically, Yang never broke Mercury’s leg. We’ve known that was an illusion for months.” Silence. He was really, really angry. Standing, Qrow shoved the scroll into Oscar’s hands. “I got you this for a reason, kid. And get this, it’s expensive as hell. So how about you don’t nearly drop it into a storm drain next time.”

“Sorry, Qrow,” The boy looked down, solemn. Now really, was it necessary to scold him for a mistake like that? He was resourceful, and held his own against those guys for a while. Really, the only reason he was even beaten was because they probably used some unfair group attacks when he didn’t even have a weapon. “Uh, Ozpin’s laughing.”

“‘Course he is. He’s seeing how much I’m forcing this angry dad slash mentor persona.” Qrow smirked, but still crossed his arms and tried to appear intimidating. “That doesn’t excuse you acting foolish though.”

“T-Trust me, he’s doing enough pointing out my mistakes today. He was just about to take over before he noticed Weiss.” Oscar stayed silent, drifting his eyes upwards towards the pale blue sky. “He says… That you should have intervened sooner, and it’s kind of hypocritical considering you used to never answer your scroll either.”

“Uh huh.” And that was that. It wasn’t much of a scolding, but hopefully the mistakes made that day would serve as an important lesson. Then, Qrow turned towards Weiss. “And you.”

“Me?” Okay, sure. She got shot. It wasn’t a big deal! She was stalling him. It just so happened that… Well, she made him panic and he had a fight response, rather than flight. Qrow shook his head, as if he were reading her mind.

“Spring Amitola of the Branwen tribe,” He began, sighing and rolling his eyes at the alias. “Not only does using just a different word for a dead girl's name as your fake identity seem pretty tasteless, and I bet that ex-White Fang that came here with Blake wouldn’t appreciate it considering she barely knows you,” He cut himself off, finding no proper way to segue this run on sentence. “Well, let’s just say I find it a little obnoxious that you’d use my sister and her tribe to seem threatening.”

“I know,” Weiss looked up at him, confidentiality taking the criticism. “Spring is just the first name that popped into my head, and Amitola was the only surname that I could think of that sounded unassuming enough to use.”

“Why even use an alias? You could have probably have been completely honest about who you were and scare that lowlife. Which, by the way, scaring him was also a bad move if you hadn’t noticed. I was watching the whole time, so you weren’t exactly in any danger, but that’ll hardly be the case all the time.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“I was just paranoid to give my real name. Or any of our names, at that. We have powerful enemies.”

“Paranoia must be contagious if you both got it. Listen, of course we have dangerous enemies, but they already know we’re here and so far aren’t able to do anything about it. And even if they didn’t, what makes you think they’d get their information from a bandit who’s turned to a life of city crime?” Qrow had a point, but Weiss noted he didn’t seem to fully understand what she meant. She didn’t mention her father to be fair, who gave her enough reason to not waltz around hollering ‘I’m Weiss Schnee, ex-Heiress of the Schnee Dust company, and I don’t give a heck about my father’s opinion!’

“And,” Qrow continued. “You’ve met my sister. Yeah, she’s not exactly what I’d consider a good person, but she’s a complicated individual with her own ideals. She focuses a lot more on staying alive over righteous heroism than Me, or Oz. I mean, you met the woman. A piece of work, but she’s not a blood thirsty cult leader who sends assassins after people for failing her.” Those final three words did make her wonder though. It was sorta odd to see the other side of this relationship. Qrow clearly cared about Raven despite all, and in all honesty that was sort of sweet. It really made Weiss ponder her relationship with Whitley. He was a devious hellspawn, but she still loved him and would protect him if he was in danger.

“Uh, someone wants to chime in,” Oscar began, twirling a lock of hair around his ringer. “Ozpin says that Weiss was being resourceful. That really, her only real issue was terrifying the man into attacking, rather than just stalling or negotiating. Maybe you should back off and give her a break considering she saved us from being in a sling for a month.” The air was still, and Qrow narrowed his eyes at Oscar. “W-Well, I added that last part.”

Their voices fell silent, with the only sound being the cacophonous crowds in the distance, the wind whistling, and birds chirping. Then, Qrow chuckled, and any element of serious discussion drifted away. It was settled. They all made mistakes, but overcame the situation together. Weiss helped Oscar off the bench. He didn’t need help, but thanked her nonetheless. They started up the hill, back to their temporary home. As the walked, Weiss withdrew into a memory.

*

One, two, three, four. She swung her blade in sequence, straight up, forward thrust, diagonal slash, forward thrust. She knew she could not rely on an opponent allowing her to perform a specific combination of attacks every time, but knowing the right sequence of attacks to maximize damage was important. Combat was like a dance. A well-choreographed dance was much more appealing than just throwing your body around in a vague attempt to follow the rhythm. Returning to her starting stance, Weiss sighed. She wasn’t fighting anything, just swinging at air.

Winter had only been gone again for three days, but Weiss already felt loneliness return to her. The Schnee manor was cold, and her family was distant. Jacques was busy in his office, negotiating with some men that worked under him. Whitley just minded his own business, sitting with legs crossed on a chair, reading a book. She could guess where her mother was. Really, the only person she had regular, enjoyable conversations with was Klein.

It wasn’t always that way. When she was and Winter were children, and Whitley was barely a toddler, they were all very close and played together on a daily basis. That was a long time ago, and now Winter was in the military, Whitley preferred solitude when in the manor, her father had grown more and more rigid, and consequently Willow had grown more and more withdrawn. Did that truly matter, anyway? Their home was so big that it was hard to even find each other anyway.

Weiss holstered her sword. This isn’t right, she thought. Weiss wanted to continue practicing, but felt an empty feeling in her chest. Was it apathy, or something else? No matter how much she focused on the task at hand, her heart wasn’t in it. With her head hanging low, she left the large, unused room and began down a white hallway with large windows twice her size every few feet. It was night, but the moon’s light was brighter than a city. She stared at it; lost herself in it. She preferred when the moon’s undamaged side was facing Remnant, but this phase was pretty close to that. Only the corner was cracked. She could accept it. The shattered moon depressed her on nights like this.

Was that any different from usual though?

“Weiss?” A gentle voice called her name. She smoothly left her trance and turned to the source, seeing a tall woman with silver hair and distinguished wrinkles under her eyes. Weiss smiled.

“Yes, mother?” She spotted a wine stain on the woman’s cuff. Recent as an hour ago. Her breath still reeked of drink. Weiss could even tell the brand by the two little clues: Aged Atlassian Royal. Willow didn’t exclusively drink wine, but that particular alcohol happened to taste sweet without effort, while still being able to get the user ‘smashed’ as the term went.

“Are you okay, darling? Did Whitley get on your nerves again?” She cared, but the woman was out of touch. She and Whitley barely talked, and haven’t gotten into a bad fight for months. She was sure her mother knew this fact, but the depressant simply made time and memory more disorienting. Weiss hoped this was the case, as the idea that her own mother was so distant that she had no idea what was going on in her children’s lives was so melancholy that she didn’t even want to entertain the idea.

“No, mother. I was just daydreaming,” Weiss said, forcing a smile.

“Oh,” Willow chuckled, looking out at the moon. “Sweetie, you do realize the sun set two hours ago. You really mustn't spend so long in, in that room, sweetie.” Her words were beginning to loop and slur. Weiss didn’t bother correcting her that the ‘day’ in daydreaming didn’t necessarily refer to the time. “I worry about you, Weiss. You shouldn’t be getting involved in all this huntress business. You’ll be running this company some, some day.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Weiss said, wishing to deflect this conversation. “Uhm, if you don’t mind though, I think I’ll simply retire for the night.” The older woman nodded and moved aside, allowing Weiss to walk past her and start down the hall, her heels echoing throughout the manor. That soft voice managed to stop her just narrowly within normal speaking range.

“I love you, Weiss.” The girl turned, and nodded.

“I love you too, mother.” She loved part of you. The Willow Schnee that did not dull the pain with the drink. That Willow was so far away, it seemed.

Weiss had not planned to go to bed quite yet. She was not content to simply lay down and force herself into a rest quite yet. So she wandered the halls. In such a short time, she talked to her alcoholic mother, heard her father yelling about rabid terrorists, exchanged uncomfortable glances with Whitley, and even exchanged some laughs with Klein. It was the perfect summary of an average night at her home.

Then something unusual happened. An event that made her blood run cold. Gunfire, and screaming from the distance. It was unnatural, and frightening to her core. Ensuring her blade was still strapped to her side, Weiss took a breath and ran down the hall, following the sounds that bounced off the walls. Bangs, glass shattering, the screeches of something awful. Was it a grimm? She’d fought grimm before, both in training, and the summons real variants that were born to kill. Something left her so uneasy though.

Panting, Weiss reached the front hall. A gaudy entrance area with azure carpets laid on top of two marble staircases that led to the same second floor balcony. Down on the first floor, she saw the fight between mortal guards and the ghostly grimm take place. They tried to shoot at it, but were unable to land a shot as it flew through the air. The firing was deafening even to her, not allowing her to hear the clink of a metal grenade below the balcony, where the supports kept it standing.

Her vision blurred and her ears rung as her senses returned to her. Weiss lifted herself from the rubble of the destroyed structure and scanned the room. There were some wounded, but she was unsure if there were casualties. They were simple manor guards that she hadn’t seen before in her life. “Ms. Schnee!” One yelled, approaching her and trying to lift her off the ground. Startled, the heiress pushed him away and stood on her own, brushing dust of her skirt.

“I’m fine! You just need to search the grounds and find that grimm!” She snapped at him, and the middle aged woman withdrew her hands. Turning several times, the woman inquired with a shaky voice.

“What was that thing! That wasn’t like any grimm I’ve ever seen.”

That’s why you’re a security guard, and not a huntress. “It was a Geist, I think. We barely touched on that subject in school because it was meant for later years, but they basically possess objects and, and…” Weiss paused, noticing something peculiar. There were two pedestals on either side of the front entrance interior. Both extremely large, authentic looking replicas of a knight’s armor, complete with a greatsword. Weiss quickly reached the conclusion that the Geist had obtained a powerful body to call its own.

“Wait,” She said, trying to gather her bearings. “How did it even get here? The Geist? This city is supposed to be protected thoroughly. This manor doubly so. How did it slip past so efficiently?”

“Ms. Schnee, it…” The older woman began, before stopping and looking up the stairs. Weiss turned and followed her eyes to the source of the disturbance. She half expected a giant suit of iron armor to be standing up there, but instead it was just her father, breathing heavily as he surveyed the damage. He looked shaken. “Sir!”

“Father! Are you okay?”

Jacques straightened his back, but it fool anyone. The man was panicked. Muttering something under his breath that was entirely inaudible to the others, he opened a scroll. “I’m fine, Weiss.”

“What are you doing?” She called out, hearing crashing in the distance. Wherever it was, it was wreaking havoc.

“Calling Ironwood. He’d better damn well be in the city, or I swear.”

“Father!” She yelled, balling her fists. “There’s no time, we have to get everyone out of here, now!”

“I will not have our home destroyed, Weiss.” Was he insane? A Geist was one of the most dangerous grimm types in all of remnant. The lives of everyone in the building weren’t worth a monument of power. She could tell he wouldn’t budge, though. Gritting his teeth, the old man threw his scroll into the debris and looked at her. “Weiss… I take no pleasure in asking you to do this, but… Well, you’ve been trying so hard to prove to me that you’re ready to go to Beacon. If you’re really a huntress, then kill that thing.”

It left her dumbfounded to hear her father suggest such a thing, but she understood perfectly well. Gripping the hilt of her rapier, Weiss nodded. “I can do it.” Judging by where the sounds stopped, it must’ve been in the grand hall. She used that place to train with winter a lot. It was one of the oldest parts of the manor and held the most beauty too. That, and it normally never had people working in it.

“Wait.” She turned and looked at him. He looked worried. He was worried about her. “If you can’t do it, run away. This isn’t worth an heiress dying.” Wordlessly, Weiss nodded, and began her long trek through the mansion. As she walked, she wondered what he truly meant by that. Her father was a very inaffectionate person, she’d accepted long ago. That may have just been his way of expressing worry for her. Still, deep in the recesses of her mind, Weiss believed that it was more likely his words were to be taken at face value. An heiress dying in battle would be very unbecoming of the Schnee family’s reputation.

She pondered this, up until the moment she entered the large hallway. Its ceiling was to the sky, and ice cold wind bit her. She walked, calmly. Until the clouds in the sky dispersed as if nature was intentionally letting moonlight illuminate the hall, and the shining armor of a monster. Not just a grimm, but a weapon. One that would test her limits.

*

“You seem deep in thought,” Oscar said, rubbing his ribs as he walked. The sun beat against their backs as they trudged up the paved hill. The sky was turning from a pale blue to a soft gold. Qrow led them, with Weiss and Oscar walking adjacently to each other. She nodded to him, and the boy cleared his throat awkwardly, seemingly unsure what to say. “You, uh, are you okay? You look a little angry.”

“Do I?” She hadn’t noticed, but didn’t doubt what Oscar said. She fixed her expression and shrugged, raising a hand to her left eye and delicately traced the scar over her forehead and cheek with her index and middle finger tips. It was as healed as it was over going to get, but left an indentation on her skin. Oscar looked at the action with a perplexed face, then looked away with an awkward cough. This incited a friendly laugh from her. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it. I’m thankful that it’s no longer as fresh, but it’s a pretty obvious mark on my body.”

“No! No, it’s not that, I just…” He trailed off, his pace slowing. Not wanting him to fall behind, Weiss also slowed her pace to match his.

“No need to worry about politeness. I don’t mind.” Truly, she didn’t. In fact, she almost wore it with pride. It felt to her like proof that she wasn’t just a girl born into fortune, but truly had the makings to become a huntress. Even if it was a scar born of a critical mistake in battle, she had overcome the Arma Gigas despite the pain, and now had it tamed within her. “I was just remembering how I got it… I’ve been remembering a lot of things lately. I guess with all that’s happened.” She rested a hand on the still healing wound near her stomach. “I have two scars now.”

Oscar nodded, feeling more comfortable to look at the mark on her face, without the worry that he was staring rudely. Weiss smiled reassuringly, and Oscar responded with the same. After a moment, his curiosity overcame any apprehension. “So, how?”

“My father’s doing…” She noticed his face contort with shock and horror, prompting her to clarify without missing a beat. “Not intentionally, and not by hand. It was by proxy. He was a fool and a megalomaniac. Was experimenting on a weapon using grimm and meant to pit it against me in a controlled environment. Problem was, it wasn’t controlled in the slightest.” All of which she only gathered after the fact.

“Sounds like you had a pretty crummy dad,” Qrow chimed in, to no argument from Weiss. She imagined that Qrow and his twin didn’t exactly have stellar parents, and would have brought that up, but Oscar, or rather, Ozpin seemed to read her mind and shook his head no. It was a small gesture that gave her enough of an impression that asking about the elder Branwen’s was not the best courses of action. So, they walked in silence for a bit longer. The breeze was refreshing, but walking up a single set of stairs was brutal on her already fatigued body. Reaching the top, she blew air out her mouth and rubbed her thigh. Qrow halted and turned. “Need a break, kid?”

“I’m fine,” Weiss dodged. Qrow crossed his arms, obviously unsatisfied with that answer. Huffing, she supposed a little elaboration wouldn’t kill her. “It’s been a really long day, and the most active since that night. So you can imagine that I’m pretty sore.” The old man chuckled at that, for whatever reason. Meanwhile, Oscar looked apologetic.

“Sorry, Weiss. I didn’t mean to drag you two into my problems.”

“No, that’s not it. You’re fine Oscar.” She reassured him.

Qrow continued to laugh it up ahead of them, standing on the last step of the beaten stone staircase. “What she means is my niece kicked her ass in a little sparring match they had that went out of control.”

“You mean it had gone out of control,” She corrected him. She certainly wasn’t blind to the man rolling his eyes like a kid with an attitude.

“That’s surprising,” Oscar noted, sitting down with the assumption that they were, in fact, taking a break. There wasn’t a lot of pedestrian traffic on the staircase, which made it a convenient place to relax for a minute. Sadly, they probably weren’t the first to think of that, as evidenced by the inordinate amount of litter near the edges of the stairs. Wrappers, napkins and cans, oh my! “No offense to Ruby, I just would have thought Weiss would have a duel in the bag. Is your injury still bothering you?”

Two answers met him simultaneously.

“No,” Weiss said.

“Yes,” Qrow also said.

Oscar simply scratched his head, unsure of how to respond. Weiss turned to look at the older man and frowned intensely, crossing her arms. “Oh, so you can feel the same sensations I can now? It was already healed at Haven, and only hurts a tiny bit now. Negligible. Er, a nuisance at worst.” Qrow sighed, taking a couple steps downward so he wasn’t towering several feet above Weiss.

“No wound that nearly kills will ever just be a nuisance.” Weiss stayed silent, unsure of how to respond to that. “Weiss, I’m not gonna patronize you. You’re an adult, and a huntress at that. Not even an awfully amaetur one. You don’t have the luxury of several years of academic training, but real world experience is what matters. But I’m willing to bet every Lien in my wallet and an eye that that,” he pointed at her stomach. “Was the first mortal wound you’ve ever experienced.”

She couldn’t deny it, but his confidence in such an assumption kind of pissed her off. It’d be wrong to argue with that, though. “I’ve had… Close calls.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Oscar pull off one of his gloves and fidget with it. He looked terribly uncomfortable.

“Look,” Qrow began, staring out towards the goldening sky. Shadows began to fall over some parts of the city. “I’ve had my fair share. One just recently, if you must know. And everytime, it leaves a mark; not just on the body, but on the mind. It’s a chilling reminder that, well…”

“That we can die by taking this path.” Silence fell. Even the wind slowed to a stop. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, she was sure. Qrow sighed, resting his hands on his hips.

“Well, I wouldn’t have said it in such an emo way,” It was obvious to Weiss that he was trying to alleviate the tense atmosphere that fell over the three of them. “I mean, a janitor can die on the job if he has enough bad luck, or is enough of a clutz. But we are at more risk, you’re right about that. Going up against Salem and her cronies is borderline insane, but it’s the responsibility we chose.

“What I’ve noticed though,” He continued “Is you’re still shaken up about what Cinder did to you. And yeah, I know, how could you not be? But I’ve seen it having an effect on you. I saw you freeze up when Ruby disarmed you, and that was just training.” Weiss didn’t notice her hands were shaking, but she did realize he was hitting the nail on the head. “You’re anxious to fight, even in a safe environment. You had more than enough aura to tank that hit… Be honest, even if you don’t quite realize the extent of it, that injury is affecting you.” A lump formed in her throat. It frustrated her how right he was. With a sigh, she nodded with a word.

“That doesn’t have to hold you back though,” Oscar chimed in, his voice cracking ever so slightly. She turned her head just enough so he could enter her peripherals. “I mean, we’re all scared. You, me, Ruby. It’s natural to be, right? But you can overcome it.” He was half right. What Weiss was experiencing had less to do with fear and was more like the aftershock of her near-death experience still holding her back. She was hesitant to use the word ‘traumatized’ to describe herself, as it didn’t exactly feel right to people who suffered greater, like Yang. But despite her apprehensions, she was suffering a form of trauma instead of just regular fear. A deep seeded anxiety in battle, that under certain circumstances was causing her to panic and freeze up.

But that’s where he was half wrong. The right part was that she could overcome it, and she knew it within her heart. She smiled at the boy and nodded. “I know,” She said to him. Then something occurred to her. Turning back to Qrow, she laced her hands together behind her back. “Now, I believe we were going to talk about Ruby.” Qrow just grumbled.

“About why she got upset? If you want a straight answer, than sorry. People are more complicated than Grimm.” Weiss was unsatisfied.

“I know she’s still shaken over what happened to me, but she’s never acted like this. Not even after what happened to… To Penny. I’m worried something's happened to her. You said you can give me some advice about this.”

“True,” He said, subconsciously grinding his sole against the stone stair he stood on. “But advice is a pretty liberal term. The best thing to do is just let her recover.” He could tell Weiss was still incredibly unsatisfied with this answer, and clearly brimming with anxieties. Alright, he thought. “Weiss. One thing you need to understand is there’s nothing wrong with Ruby per se,” He began.

“I didn’t mean to imply that,”

Qrow nodded. “I know. I just mean she’s, hm. She’s,” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek as he searched for the right words in the clutter of his thoughts. “Sensitive. Ruby’s sensitive. I’m sure I don’t need you to tell me that, or…”

“Other way around,” Oscar corrected him, clearly listening intently.

“Right. Well, the point is she’s not sensitive as in just, like, the emotional sense. She’s had to grow up a lot in the past year or so, and realize that this isn’t all like the fairy tales we read to our kids to get them to sleep. Guess you could say she’s a child at heart, and events in her life,” His upper eyelids fell over the pupils and he looked down at the ground, intently staring at a caterpillar crawling in the crack of the step. Melancholy permeated the next words that left his mouth. “Losing her mother in particular. Life hasn’t been as easy on her as it should have been. She has a strong heart, but I worry she’s bottled up a lot of pain. Stuff she won’t let loose around even me.

“Really, it runs in her family. Her dad was a hothead that back when he was a student at Beacon, and obviously Yang carried over that trait. She ran away once, ya know.” Weiss clearly did not know. Qrow scratched his fuzzy chin, wondering how he could tell a very long story short. “It was only a few weeks after Summer passed… Don’t need to tell you they were all going through bereavement, in their own ways. Tai was broken hearted, but did his best to take care of those two. Ruby, well, she balled a lot and became very clingy to Yang. And as for that firecracker, she was a lot more quiet for a while, but started pressing for more information about her mom. I guess losing Summer, who was a better mother than Raven ever was, started to make her wonder.”

Hearing this story was only reaffirming Weiss’s assumption that both her family, and the Xiao Long slash Rose family had several tons of baggage in completely opposite ways. Her family was cold and distant from each other, while Ruby’s family were warm and interlaced, which made each tragedy just that much worse.

“Eventually Tai snapped at her to stop asking,” he continued. “I knew Yang felt guilty but there was a fire inside her. And, knowing Ruby wasn’t ready to be without her, she got a wagon, loaded it with food and water, and traveled for a few miles across Patch looking for anything relating to Raven. Her only lead was an old shack and garden a few miles out. I watched the whole thing, disguised. She was exhausted by the time I had to save them.” Wait, was she hearing this right? Qrow let Yang run away and put her at risk? Intentionally or not, Weiss started to give Qrow a pronounced judgemental look.

“So, they were in danger? And you let them wear themselves out? Let Yang lug a wagon for, what, hours? Days, even? Why not just stop her right when you saw her?” This probably wasn’t the most diplomatic way to protest his decision, but the man responded civilly.

“She had the right to search. I’m a hunter, and was well aware of any Grimm stalking them, and was confident in my reaction skills if I needed to rescue. ‘Sides, if I stopped them an hour into their stunt, Yang would probably just resent and try again when she thought she could get away with it. Rebel stage, you understand. The best way to prove that was a stupid, dangerous idea and make it stick was to let her actually experience it, so she wouldn’t be so foolish again.” Well, it was sound. Weiss didn’t have to like it but she could understand his stance. “Then I shouted some sense into Tai, but the point is that sensitive nature is in her blood. In Yang, it manifests as rebellion and anger. In Ruby, well… You’ve seen that. She’s an empath, and has ideal views of the world that are being tested, now more than ever.”

“Hm…” Weiss mused on what he said, thinking of all the times Ruby demonstrated that empathy and ideal view that he brought attention to. When Blake ran away from them, she was the one to search most vehemently. She was the one who put herself most at risk to defend people in Beacon, it seemed. In Ruby’s eyes, they were supposed to be heroes that would defend the innocent and bury evil. That was how it should have been, just how the stories conditioned them to think. The world wasn’t fair though, she thought. In the real world, there were very few matured people who could be considered truly pure and innocent, and no matter how a person lived their life, they can be snuffed out all the same. The good die young, not because they’re supposed to, but because everyone can die young and the universe doesn’t discriminate.

“If I can chime in,” Oscar practically whispered. His eyes looked tired, even depressed at the discussion. “I think she’s still mourning. She has conviction, so much conviction it’s inspiring. But one night, she looked truly… Pained. When she said she was combat ready, that was a phrase a close friend of hers used a lot, right? The one that was used to make a point. Penny. She was made into a pariah, or a martyr just to kickstart all the political tensions that are going on right now, right?” Not the word she would use. As tragic as it is, not many tears were shed for the mechanical girl, eviscerated on camera. She was definitely more fitting the term pariah than martyr. To Weiss, Ruby and all the others, it was the proxy murder of a dear friend, but to everyone else, it was evidence of espionage and paranoia.

It felt as though she was learning a completely different side of Ruby, only hinted at progressively since they met. It all came to a head earlier that day, and now Weiss was beginning to understand that there may have very well been a completely different side of Ruby, that stood in stark contrast to her normal, strong hearted and carefree attitude. Pain, bottled up with enormous pressure, and hidden from those she held closest, maybe even herself. Only tiny chinks were in the armor of her heart, and occasionally blood leaked from them.

“I mean,” Oscar continued, “That’s normal, of course. To feel depressed over losing people. It’d be more worrying if she didn’t care,” Ruby? Not caring? Not in a million years, within a million alternate realities. Weiss frankly thought Ruby was a bit too compassionate at times, case and point being her aggressive hugs that caused such an adverse reaction in Weiss last night. “Thing is, she’s taking it harder than the rest of us, isn’t she? To be fair, she had the most to deal with, to my knowledge, but… I don’t want anything to happen to her. I don’t want her to get herself hurt, or for her to hurt.”

“Oscar,” Weiss’s voice was unnaturally brittle. She cleared her throat and swallowed, though her mouth was drier than the most barren corners of Vacuo. Looking at Oscar, he wasn’t faring well in this conversation either. He looked uncomfortable with the worries that were gnawing at him, and his eyes glistened. It may have been her imagination, but it looked as though he was just barely tearing up, though most signs of it were firmly held back. “You’re a good friend to her.” She said, abruptly. She had a sneaking feeling he felt guilty about revealing this tidbit, but she could tell he cared deeply for her. It almost made Weiss envious, though of which she wasn’t sure.

“I, I hope so,” He sighed. Oscar rubbed his wrist, stretching it and wincing. He surely had a few bruises, she imagined. “Ozpin’s told me a lot about her, sorta in the downtime on the train here. And, and I know she’s a hero based on what I’ve heard.” He smiled and looked up at her, then at Qrow. “A hero that I’d like to stand by. But more than that, she is human. Humans are flawed, y’know? And I’m worried she… is scared to show hers.”

Weiss nodded. Ruby wasn’t a born hero, that was just what she strived to be. Maybe it was childish, but she stood with them against Salem. No, that wasn’t right. It was partly because of her that they even had a combined force of ex-Beacon Alumni that could hope to challenge Salem. Were it not for their group, and the Menagerie citizens both fighting against the attack on Haven, they may have truly been consumed by the despair of war.

The air was beginning to cool with the gradual fall of daylight. As they walked back to their safehouse, Weiss felt somewhat content with the last few hours, and knew when the time was right, she’d be there for Ruby. And even if it killed her, she would be positive to reassure Ruby that she was alright, and that it was okay to feel scared. And most importantly, that they were in this together.

*

Drops of water leaked from her tear glands, full of salt and antibodies. She sucked air through her white teeth as the water seeped between her cheek and the bandage wrapped diagonally from her right cheekbone, over her left temple, just barely leaving her right eye free to see and her mouth unobstructed. The tears, composed of sodium chloride, stung as they made even the slightest contact with the gash in her cheek. It still hurt, as though the skin of her face was pulled taut and ripped down to the bone. It looked a lot better than it felt oddly enough, but that didn’t change the fact that it still looked horrible.

After her battle with the Arma Gigas, Weiss had fainted. For how long, she could only guess. Ten minutes, maybe up to a half hour; she wasn’t on the cold marble floor long before contracted Atlesian security officers were shaking her awake and calling for medical assistance. Despite her absolute exhaustion, she’d fought her way to her feet and proclaimed that she was alright, though she wasn’t ignorant to the pain that crushed her body. It was hard to breathe and felt as though an anvil was laid on her chest while she lied unconscious. She could only guess what ghastly bruises formed on her torso from the fight. The worst part however, had been the cut over her eye that blinded her with blood and burned in the cold breeze. Before, she’d ignored it in the adrenaline of battle, but then it’d become horrible apparent.

The doctor had it cleaned and dressed within that hour. The only excruciating part was the careful removal of debris from the orbital regions of the cut, and later the sutures that were put in. He assured her, it could have been worse. Had the blade of the possessed armor met her face with more force, she wouldn’t have had a short medical clean-up and first aid repair, but rather a much longer, and more painful experience that would have left her disfigured.

“Hell, you were home when you received this wound, and that’s miraculous. Lucky you weren’t facedown in a swamp, with infections entering the wound within hours!” He must’ve been joking, but she didn’t get it.

It took many rigorous demands and even threats to convince the wrinkled man to give her a hand mirror, and look at the damage herself. And once she did see her own face, Weiss began to weep.

Not like later, in her bed under the covers, with bandages shielding her from sickness, and layers of sheets keeping her warm. Instead of sobbing, she simply shed a few tears at the sound of an argument in the other room. Weiss was no stranger to shouting in the manor, but it was rare to hear it between her father and sister. Winter was always so composed, but not ten minutes back, she was chewing her own father out as though he lit the place on fire. The true rarity of this event was that she went straight to Jacques, instead of stepping into Weiss’s room. The heiress listened intently, but through the distance and walls, only made out a handful of words.

Winter said something along the lines of, “...Could have... No right… She deserves the chance… Without… Worth the risk… Project could have killed…”

Weiss wasn’t stupid. Tightening her grip on the sheets, she started to gather what had really happened since that night. Her father was experimenting on creating a weapon using grimm. A legion of gheists. At some point, he and the head researcher wondered if they should test it on Weiss herself. It’d be a good way to figure out if she was ready to leave. He didn’t anticipate it escaping, or having her fight it in an uncontrolled environment. One thing was for sure: someone got fired.

The yelling stopped after what may as well have been an eternity, and a few minutes later, there was a light knock on her door.

“Come in,” Weiss muttered, to quiet for a dog to hear. After her response was met with silence, she cleared her throat and raised her voice, trying to sound more confident. “Come in.” The door slowly creaked open, and to her immense relief, Winter was the only person on the other side.

Relief, but also anxiety. She was scared of her sister seeing the new mark, but Weiss hoped that wasn’t obvious. That she was putting on a brave face. Winter could read her like a book though, and the one visible eye wet with tears held no secrets. Winter sighed, smiled, and approached her, confidently sitting on the bed right next to her covered thigh. “I’m glad you’re okay, Weiss,” She said, simply.

“Am I?” Silence fell over them before she followed up her cynical question. “I’ve never heard you argue with father like that. You didn’t sound pleased with what happened.”

“How could I be? Your life was at risk, and you didn’t walk away without a scratch. That doesn’t mean I’m not ecstatic to see you again. Safe.” She lifted a hand up to the bandages on Weiss’s head, prompting the younger girl to flinch. She paused her movement, and smiled tenderly. “It’s okay. You don’t need to hide anything from me.” She hesitated, but eventually nodded. The act of removing the bandages was excruciatingly slow: loosening them, pulling where they were knit, untangling strips from her hair. It was slow, and awkward, and for whatever reason Weiss just couldn’t care. She was comfortable for once.

Even with both eyes free of anything blinding them, her vision still felt weak. She couldn’t see as far, and when closing her right eye, most her vision turned black. Clearly her left eye was no longer as strong as it used to be. It luckily wasn’t damaged directly, but she’d be more reliant on the vision in her now dominant eye. It could be worse, she mused. She could have a noticeably lazy eye, or have a lack of depth perception. “How… Does it look?” She asked, timidly.

“You’ve surely seen it. What do you think?”

“We’re our own worst critics,” Weiss depressingly responded. “I think it’s disgusting. I feel… Disfigured. Is that shallow?”

“Absolutely not,” Winter responded without a breath between them. She must’ve understood on some level Weiss’s concerns of vanity or pride. It soothed her injured heart. “You’re right though, we are our own worst critics.” Delicately, she wrapped an arm around Weiss’s shoulders and pulled her close. “The scar may never disappear, but overtime it will close and fade. And you will always be beautiful, Weiss. A beautiful heiress, and…” The room was deafeningly silent between the beginning and end of that sentence. Weiss could feel warm breaths on the top of her head, and somehow, even as she closed her eyes and held her sister back, she knew Winter was smiling from a pure love that didn’t show often. “And, an unbreakable huntress.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, truth is I had this chapter about 85% written when I posted chapter 1, and only just finished it a couple days ago. The idea with posting this way was I could start digging into chapter 3, then when a certain time passed I could release chapter 2. That way there wouldn't be such a long wait between them. Well, it didn't work that way for a couple reasons. One, I've been a little down in the dumps for a few weeks. Sporadically, but didn't have the energy to get more of this story out. Sorry about that. Two, my classes have been BUSY. Obvious excuse, but for real. I graduate soon, and even though my work hours go up, well... My job isn't going to make me write essays analyzing how rude the guy who honked at me at 10pm was. 
> 
> So, I gotta say this chapter was a little weird to write. I had a basic idea of how this chapter would go, knowing it'd probably not include Ruby at all. Thing is, I expected it to be short before I went off the rails and did stuff like adding a random named OC who will never show up again, and flashbacks retelling Weiss's battle from the White trailer. Again, this chapter was a lot of me experimenting with juggling a sub-plot in a story and writing dialogue. Hopefully fun, I liked writing the bar scene, but it is all a little out of left field. Thing is, by the time I realized that, I was 7k words into it and wasn't gonna scrap it all. Who knows, the way I've been writing this fic, it may be ending up longer than just 3 chapters. 
> 
> Also, I'm not sure how canon the manga is to the show, but the Arma Gigas stuff does diverge from it a little, I think. I've never read the manga (but love its designs, Weiss in gloves can slay me

**Author's Note:**

> So, even though this story is pretty much entirely from the POV of Weiss (with one cheating exception so far), my main idea was focusing on Ruby and giving her the development and 'screen'time that I feel she hasn't gotten enough of yet in the actual show. I know the writers said something about focusing more on her in future Volumes, but we're on hiatus so this is my contribution.
> 
> I already think that fight scene overstays its welcome a little, but that's something I mostly only realized after having it completed. I'm fairly happy with it beat-for-beat, so trimming it was difficult. Also, an odd focus on coffee in this chapter. I barely drink the stuff but Persona 5 got me obsessed with it as a mood drink. 
> 
> And like I said in the tags, I'm not sure where this story will end on the White Rose side of things. There's already plenty of stories with these two and I want this to be canon compliant, so I'm unsure. Anyway, hope it's enjoyable so far! Thhhhaaaannnnkkkk youu


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